


A Traitorous Affair

by Fortheoneatopthecity



Category: Kindred of the East, Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Behind the Scenes, Blood Drinking, Blow jobs on a dildo, Book club between villains, Canon-Typical Violence, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Femdom, Flirting while plotting, French Kissing, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Judging other people's relationships, Kissing, Kuei-jin, Kuei-jin OCs, Light Dom/sub, Malkavian mind powers, Mind Manipulation, Near Kisses, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Pegging, Sensual Vampire bites, Shapeshifting, These two jerks think they better than each other, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Villain/Villain ship, Violence, acceptance of feelings, slight hair pulling, via headbanging against a wall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:40:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21617743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fortheoneatopthecity/pseuds/Fortheoneatopthecity
Summary: Sebastian LaCroix and Ming Xiao both thought they knew what they were getting into when making a mutual pact with each other. But when they each played the game of seduction in an effort to gain control they both forgot that the seducer could so easily fall at the same time as their victim...
Relationships: Sebastian LaCroix/Ming Xiao
Comments: 74
Kudos: 26





	1. You take my breath away

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I watched the Kui-jin ending and how Ming Xiao calls LaCroix handsome and the general familiarity (If with some bitterness) manner how she talks with him, made me wonder if their more to their alliance than we saw in-game. And thus a ship was born! XD  
> And plus, there's like almost no fanfics with Ming Xiao in a big way, so I wanted to fix that too.  
> I hope you enjoy reading this and please leave me any comments or kudos

Sebastian LaCroix impatiently tapped his fingers on the bar top and looked down at his wristwatch for what felt like the hundredth time. Ten minutes had passed and she still wasn’t here. He was supposed to be meeting up with Ming Xiao in the bar of the Red Dragon Restaurant at eight o’clock sharp. Sebastian distinctly remembered writing in his email to Ming Xiao that he wouldn’t tolerate any lateness on her part or she could forget about a mutual pact. But truthfully, it was all bluster, Sebastian knew he couldn’t afford for this alliance not to happen, the Anarchs and Sabbat were becoming thorns in his side that wouldn’t be easily plucked, he didn’t need the Kuei-jin to be yet another enemy. At least not until Nines Rodriguez’s Anarchs and the Sabbat were dealt with…

Yet Ming Xiao seemed content to make him wait in this shabby little bar lounge, being forced to listen to an elderly drunk Chinese man mumbling on and on about his glory days of something or other in his youth, Sebastian didn’t know what, he wasn’t listening, instead pretending to drink his cocktail.

But regardless, the wait for Ming Xiao was maddening and made Sebastian’s gut tense with the paranoid thought that maybe this was all a trap and one of her Kuei-jin agents would turn up to try and assassinate him. Though, if that was the case, they were most certainly running late and it would be all for nothing as his Sheriff was hiding nearby waiting for such an attack.

Thankfully, Sebastian didn’t have time to stew in that paranoia as the sound of clicking heels drew his attention. He turned his head, hopeful it was the illusive Ming Xiao. It was. Ming Xiao wearing a black coat, purposely walked straight towards him.

Sebastian was not prepared for how utterly frighteningly beautiful the leader of the Kuei-jin was. Ming Xiao’s skin was a pale gold tone, her shiny, thick black hair was wrapped into a bun, held in place by four dark green hairpins decorated with gold accents. Her intelligent and alluring jade green eyes were framed by black kohl and blushing red make up that reached down to the tops of her high cheekbones. Ming Xiao’s red, full, pursed lips broke into a pleasant smile as she took the stool right next to Sebastian, a smooth leg poking through the bottom of her coat as she crossed her legs, brushing against his knee.

“I’m terribly sorry for my lateness, Mr LaCroix, there was a problem one of my charges was having and it couldn’t wait…” Sebastian snapped his eyes up towards Ming Xiao’s face at the sound of her calm yet condescending tone. 

Sebastian straightened his back and squared his shoulders, taking a quick glance at the elderly drunk man. Thankfully he had fallen asleep and the barkeeper was too busy chatting away with a young pretty woman to be listening in on their conversation. He took Ming Xiao’s hand to lightly press his lips against the silky soft skin, “Of course, I understand. You, like myself, have matters that concern our kind, but, surely if you were going to be late, it would’ve been prudent to inform me beforehand. If you hadn’t just walked in here, a few minutes more and I would’ve been gone.” 

Sebastian held back a frown when he heard the faint sound of an amused chuckle under Ming Xiao’s breath. Apparently, she didn’t buy his attempt to cover up his desperation for this alliance to work out. 

“Again, my apologies, the time merely slipped away from me. I’ll be sure to call ahead in future, if such an occurrence happens again,” Ming Xiao said with a hint of insincerity in her voice, her hand placed over her chest. Sebastian just nodded, there was no need to cause trouble, yet. She looked over her shoulder before turning back to him, “Shall we get ourselves a table? Even with this old man drooling all over the bar top and that young barkeeper’s foolish courting of the opposite sex, I would feel more comfortable with having a little more privacy…”

Sebastian peered at the pretty young woman who was wearing a distinctly please God, shut this idiot up or so help me! expression on her face. It would be wise to move on before the deciding factor was chosen, “The hostess had informed me that dinner service was finished tonight, and the restaurant has been gated off-” 

He was interrupted when Ming Xiao snapped her fingers, the sound ringing in his ears as the hostess walked over to them. After a few short words exchanged between the two women, the hostess then stood back, smiling at him and Ming Xiao, asking them to follow her.

The hostess brought them to a table right by the large fish tank. Sebastian pulled out a chair for Ming Xiao and after she took the seat offered to her, he then pushed her in close, before sitting down himself. The hostess handed them both drink menus and asked if they wanted anything. Since there was nothing on the menu for his vampiric tastes, Sebastian only asked for a glass of water. Ming Xiao ordered herself a Martini. Once the hostess had left them alone, Ming Xiao’s lips quirked up, “I would’ve thought you’d order yourself a Bloody Mary,” she said with an amused chuckle.

“I’m afraid I can no longer sustain myself on tomato juice, vodka and celery,” Sebastian answered dryly, “So it’s true, what I’ve heard about the Kuei-jin, that you can still eat and drink like a mortal.” He made sure to keep the distain out of his voice.

“We don’t sustain ourselves on mortal food either, but it’s quite a blessing for us to still enjoy the pleasures of the mortal realm,” Ming Xiao’s tone held a slight sultriness in it as she removed her coat, revealing a Chinese style sleeveless dress, olive green with golden accents that hugged her slim frame beautifully, “If you don’t mind me being forward with you…”

“Not at all…” Sebastian said, interlacing his fingers together. If Ming Xiao was similarly taken by his appearance, as he was by hers, hopefully more so, then there was no need to discourage it, especially not when it could be useful to him. He leaned closer to her, “But, there are some…mortal pleasures that are still available to Kindred and can be most useful in hiding all traces-” he paused as the hostess came back to the table and gave them their drinks. After a few brief words, she finally left them alone for Sebastian to continue, “as I was saying, the mortal pleasures can be very helpful in hiding traces of taking the necessities for our needs, as I’m sure it’s the same for your kind as well.”

Ming Xiao’s eyes shone as she took a sip of her Martini. She was smirking at him and a small giggle escaped her lips, “In the beginning yes, but as we Kuei-jin grow and refine ourselves, we no longer have to be reduced to drinking the bodily fluids of mortals to fuel our needs. I’m sure it’s the same for Cainites too, surely?”

Sebastian tensely smiled and his hands clasped tighter together. “Is that so? How do you sustain yourself when you grow in power?” he asked curious, as he could never believe that Ming Xiao had no concept of the wonderful pleasures blood brought. Certainly better than any of the highest quality gourmet food the finest chefs of the world had to offer! And she was making it seem like her devil like kind were superior to Kindred!

“I’m sure you’ve heard such terrible tales of the evil Kuei-jin sneaking into innocent people’s homes and stealing the very life force from vulnerable babies and children, no?” Sebastian had heard such tales but thought better than to mention it. When he shook his head, Ming Xiao leaned back in her chair, her jade eyes looking at him inquisitively as she took another sip of her drink. “No? I’m surprised, I would’ve thought the Anarchs told you such slander in an effort to villainize us to the Camarilla.”

Sebastian very much doubted that discrediting the rumours of Kuei-jin stealing the very life force from sleeping babies would do much to devillainize them. “I’m afraid the Anarchs have been too busy being unnecessarily rowdy children towards the Camarilla to have their words be taken of note.” 

Ming Xiao finished the rest of her Martini and placed the empty glass on the table, giving him a wry smile, “Is that so? Perhaps you should be taking note of the Anarchs’ rowdy complaints, since a parent cannot truly understand what plagues their troubled child if they close their ears to them…”

Sebastian breathed in and out, not wanting to lose his temper over Ming Xiao’s unwanted advice, it was always the ones outside his problems that thought they knew the solutions! Although, with Ming Xiao being a leader of her people much like himself, perhaps her words of advice were not merely thinly veiled insults to his leadership style. But he couldn’t help feeling from the slight smile on Ming Xiao’s face, that she was truly mocking him. “Yes, I do feel you are correct in that, but we’ve tried to listen to the Anarchs and their demands are ridiculous and delusional. They are under the belief they are perfectly capable of governing themselves without the strictures that have safe-kept Kindred society for centuries. I mean, surely you’ve seen the mess they made of themselves when your people first arrived in Los Angeles?”

Ming Xiao grinned, “Yes, we have indeed, but speaking of the unruly Anarchs,” her expression became more serious as she leaned forward, “For this pact of our mutual interests to be made, I need assurance that the Anarchs, the Sabbat and the Camarilla won’t cause us any further issues. We only have our interests focused on the community of Chinatown at heart.”

Sebastian very much doubted that, but he wasn’t the type to unnecessarily insult his potential ally, unlike Ming Xiao it seemed. He absentmindedly traced the rim of his glass, “Work on ridding Los Angeles of the vile Sabbat is underway, in the meantime they are more focused on prowling the streets and causing numerous problems for the Camarilla to clean for the Kuei-jin to worry about for the moment. And as for the Anarchs, I believe there is something of your kind’s rumoured talents that could be a great help to rid us of their current leader, Rodriguez…”

Ming Xiao’s eyebrow quirked up, as she asked with interest, “Oh, and what rumour is that?”

Sebastian leaned forward and whispered, “I’ve heard that powerful Kuei-jin like yourself can turn into anyone they want to, their voice, the way their clothes move, etc, to exactly the same as the person they copy, as though you were their twin. And best of all, it’s very hard for other Kindred to detect the illusion.”

Ming Xiao glanced at the fish tank, seeing on the other side the young pretty woman at the bar holding her hand up to the barkeeper and muttering something on her cellphone. She then turned to face Sebastian and leaned closer, her hands just inches from his. 

He soon found himself enraptured by the transformation unfolding before him, it was as though her whole skin, muscles and bones shifted themselves physically. It was, in a way, rather unsettling how Ming Xiao’s beautiful high cheekboned face morphed into the young male barkeeper’s average face, her eyes no longer jade green but instead dark brown, her long shiny hair shortening itself into a greasy spiky hairstyle with frosted tips and the dress changing into a plain white T-shirt and jeans underneath a red apron. 

The most impressive of all was how her calm pleasant voice had become that annoying nasally tone, exactly how the barkeeper sounded, “Well, since I’ve struck out completely with that pretty little flower after trying to woo her with all twenty-five of my best pick up lines, maybe I’ll have better luck with you, Mr LaCroix!” Ming Xiao laughed with a snort when Sebastian glared at her. At least the laughter was hers, even if it was strange hearing it from this form, he’d hate to think how the barkeeper’s would really have sounded. 

But even so, he didn’t glare at Ming Xiao for long and soon chuckled along with her, “That’s impressive, I’m glad to see that some rumours about the Kuei-jin are true…”

Ming Xiao morphed back into her true form and it was just as unsettling to witness as before. “I’m glad to hear it, but there’s one rumour I need to set straight…” Ming Xiao said with a coyness that sent shivers down Sebastian’s spine as she stood up from her seat and walked round to him. She loomed over him, placing her hands on his shoulders, “Take in a deep breath, fill your lungs with air and open your mouth…” Sebastian did as he was told, fascinated and somewhat fearful of what she was about to show him. 

Ming Xiao bent her head down and cupped his cheek, her lips barely an inch apart from his. Thinking they were about to kiss, Sebastian closed his eyes, waiting for those red lips to press against his. However, instead Sebastian felt some of the air in his lungs flow right out through his lips. The air was stolen from him at a gentle pace that was barely noticeable and if he had needed to breathe the loss of it would’ve more likely made him a little lightheaded rather than do any real damage. 

Sebastian opened his eyes again when the flow of air leaving his lungs stopped, seeing that Ming Xiao was still very close to his face. If Sebastian had been a hundred and eighty years younger and able to blush uncontrollably, his face would have been beet red by now. As Ming Xiao’s thumb gently ran along the bottom of his lip, Sebastian’s blood flowed into his heart, annoyingly causing it to beat loudly. There was no way she didn’t hear the rapid thumping sounds coming from his chest. Her widened grin showed that she did indeed and was pleased with how she was affecting him. Sebastian inwardly cursed himself for letting her get the better of him.

Ming Xiao’s hand left his cheek and she straightened herself, once again looming over him, “You see, while we both drink blood to gain sustenance, I do it for a very different reason. The sustenance that I need comes not only from blood but also the air mortals breathe. And as you could probably tell, we do not need to be so barbaric as to needlessly hurt or kill mortals to sustain ourselves.”

“I see, that’s good,” was all Sebastian was able to say. 

Ming Xiao smiled at him, took his glass of water and returned to her seat, “Now shall we discuss your plan to rid ourselves of Nines Rodriguez?”

Remembering himself, Sebastian squared his shoulders again, “Yes, if, shall we say, Mr Rodriguez was witnessed to be responsible for the murder of one the Camarilla’s Primogen…?”

Ming Xiao took a sip of the water with a raised eyebrow, “Surely, that would just start a war between the two of your factions.”

Sebastian nodded, “Yes, but with the battering your Kuei-jin has given the Anarchs, they probably feel they don’t have the numbers to spare to go to war with the Camarilla, especially not with the Sabbat running about. And if Nines Rodriguez was seen to be recklessly murdering a Primogen, there are those of the Anarchs who would abandon him to his fate when I call for a blood hunt on him. He’ll have to fight his way out of the city or risk meeting his final death, but either way, Nines Rodriguez will no longer be a problem for us!”

The corner of Ming Xiao’s lips curled up, “That sounds wonderful! To whom and when should Nines Rodriguez be bringing the final death?”

Sebastian felt himself becoming gleeful, finally the first step to making Los Angeles his at last was taking shape!


	2. The kiss of two snakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, after a week has passed, I've finally added a second Chapter! And this time we're having it from Ming Xiao's point of view! Let me know if you think I've written her in character in the comments.

The seats surrounding the stage of the Nocturne theatre were alive with whispering and murmurs, an undercurrent to Prince LaCroix’s speech about the importance of protecting the fragile veil of their Masquerade. It wasn’t as though the Anarch members necessarily disagreed with Sebastian LaCroix’s point regarding the importance of the Masquerade but rather that in this instance it would be at the cost of some innocent fool who had been forcibly embraced into this cursed world of the Kindred. It also was the fact that LaCroix was the one making said point.

Ming Xiao would’ve thought it best for the poor fool to be beheaded, if only to be spared such an awful existence. And also, of course, to make sure the Kindred numbers were kept at manageable levels ready for when the time to go to war would inevitably occur. But of course, one would be foolish to think that Prince LaCroix only had the protection of their Masquerade in mind when he ordered the death of the poor fool’s sire. Truth was he was using this illegal siring as an excuse to rid himself of a troublesome rival, Ming Xiao knew a scheme when she saw one, as she, herself had used the rules of Kuei-jin society to dispose of annoyances in the past, especially when she had been Sebastian’s age.

But while Sebastian got rid of his rival, the plan for the childe to meet the same fate hit a snag. Ming Xiao really regretted sitting right behind Nines Rodriguez, she should’ve moved the moment he started muttering angrily about how that fucker better not be doing what I think he’s doing…, perhaps she had held up too much hope that the Anarch leader wouldn’t just crassly shout his objection to the potential ruling for the childe’s death.

“ **This is Bullshit!!!** ”

Ming Xiao swore she’d gotten half-deaf from Nines’ righteous outcry. But she should’ve really expected this after having followed him around in disguise, making notes about his behaviour, namely of the way he talked and how he held himself in front of different people. What she had learnt about Nines was that he had a confident air about him that wasn’t false, his personality was quite authentic, rarely hiding his true emotions or opinions on any topic, he was quick to anger and held onto grudges tightly. He treated those close to him like family and even though he didn’t believe himself to be a leader of the Anarchs, he was very serious about taking care of his charges...

Namely he actually believed in the Anarch Free States nonsense he was shoveling to the youngsters of Kindred society. Honestly, how did he think there was any hope of being able to hold onto any substantial territory whilst allowing the young to run around and do whatever they wanted? No wonder her Wu had been able to overwhelm the Anarchs when they first came to Los Angeles! Not that she thought the Camarilla or the Sabbat were any better either, their failings in controlling their young Cainites and the fact they were too distracted by scheming among themselves would be their doom. It was just like being back home in China in a way, although with more coarseness and loud noises.

Thankfully the meeting broke up shortly after Sebastian realised he’d better spare the childe’s unlife or else risk more problems from the Anarchs. When everyone else had exited the theatre hall, Ming Xiao went backstage to find Sebastian. It didn’t take her long to find him over by the back door, looking down at his cellphone, having sent the childe away.

He lifted his gaze with a raised eyebrow as she approached. “If you are here to attempt to assassinate me, know that even if you succeed my Sheriff will cut you down before you even have a chance to regret your idiotic actions,” Sebastian said with boredom.

Ming Xiao chuckled to herself. Ah yes, with her disguise as a rough street punk female Brujah, it wasn’t a surprise that Sebastian would have this reaction to her walking right up to him. Though once he heard the laughter in her voice, Sebastian’s eyes briefly widened before closing with a frown, “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” Ming Xiao could see Sebastian’s front teeth briefly touch his lip, before he quickly regained control over himself, pulling his face into a professional and polite expression to hide his weakness. Ming Xiao almost wanted to laugh again at how adorable he was being right now.

But, while Ming Xiao would have loved to see his cute attempt to show his annoyance at her laughter, it wouldn’t be very useful and after all the poor dear has had such an unpleasant meeting with his charges tonight. Ming Xiao walked up to Sebastian, placing a hand on his shoulder, her eyebrow furrowing with concern, “Do you have to be at your office right now? You do look awfully tense tonight, perhaps we could stop by somewhere first?”

Sebastian’s icy blue eyes darted to her hand on his shoulder and glanced down to his cellphone, his lips pressed together as he deliberated her offer. With a heavy sigh, his eyes flicked to Ming Xiao’s and he gave her a weary smile, “I would very much appreciate to have pleasant company tonight for once…” he said smoothly, gently taking the hand on his shoulder to lightly kiss the knuckles. “Do you have a place in mind?”

Ahh, Sebastian still thought he was very much in control of this seduction game between them. They’d been playing this little game of theirs since their first meeting three weeks ago at the Red Dragon. She and Sebastian had since then been meeting up in restaurants, bar lounges and hotels, all high class of course, their discussions and plans interlaced with subtle flirting.

It was easy to ply her seduction onto Sebastian as he was rather handsome in a regal way with his delicate high cheekbones, pouty greying lips, icy blue eyes that danced between cool, commanding and excitable, and the way he styled himself with sharp old-fashioned business suits and slicked-back strawberry blonde hair with a single curl resting above his left eyebrow. Not only was his physical form appealing to her eyes, but his voice was a pleasurable treat to her ears as well. Maybe she didn’t care a lot for the cavalier braggadocio nonsense that sometimes spilled from his kissable lips but his cocktail accent of French, British and old Atlantic made it much easier to bare, especially when his tone became sensual as he played his hand of seduction. If Ming Xiao was feeling honest with herself, she would admit to often wondering what Sebastian’s body looked like without his clothes.

He had become a fun distraction for Ming Xiao, especially in these tense nights when some of the members of her Wu were kicking up a fuss about her making a deal with the Camarilla Prince. The fools didn’t see the writing on the wall, these were desperate times and they called for desperate measures if they wanted Los Angeles to truly belong to the Kuei-jin.

Ming Xiao sighed contently, her fingers reaching up to trace his jaw, “There’s a little teahouse, that I think you’ll like.”

“Oh?” Sebastian questioned as he offered his arm to her, “Do they serve anything that would be to my tastes?”

“I have made some arrangements with the owners to accommodate your needs…” Ming Xiao answered as she took his arm, walking beside him through the backdoor out into the chill air of the night.

The teahouse was a quaint little place, tucked in the corner of the streets of Chinatown. It had been owned by the same family for three generations ever since its opening in the nineteen-twenties. Nowadays the teahouse rarely had regular customers as the old ones had pretty much died off and the younger Chinese Americans instead frequented other establishments such as coffee shops. In fact the place was doing so poorly that when Ming Xiao had first arrived in Los Angeles years ago it would have had to close altogether if she hadn’t so generously donated funds to keep the place open.

Though it wasn’t just nostalgia for the old teahouses of her homeland that prompted Ming Xiao to make the kind gesture, she was a practical woman after all. In exchange for her generosity the teahouse would provide any Kuei-jin that walked in with the means to gather Chi, either from fresh blood or air from a living mortal.

The owner’s granddaughter, Song, led Ming Xiao and Sebastian to a table. There were no other customers here in the teahouse tonight, which seemed to set Sebastian’s mind at ease and the tension in his face melted away. Song asked Ming Xiao if she and Sebastian would be needing any menus this evening. She simply ordered herself a pot of green tea and discretely suggested that Song offer Sebastian some of her blood.

Song’s eyes lit up and she quickly walked around to where Sebastian was seated, offering him her bare wrists. Sebastian glanced at Ming Xiao briefly before taking hold of one of Song’s wrists and sinking his fangs into it. Song’s eyes fluttered and small gasps of pleasure left her as he slowly drank her blood. Once Sebastian had taken his fill, he gently removed his fangs from Song’s wrist and licked the bite marks, making them disappear completely.

Ming Xiao resisted the urge to glare at Sebastian as he placed a small kiss on the palm of Song’s hand, thanking her for the blood in sultry tones. She didn’t understand this strange feeling of irritation, nor the frustration she felt seeing the girl blush heavily and hearing her unnecessary gushing It was no trouble at all! Let me know if you need anything else! All of which were delaying Ming Xiao getting her pot of green tea!

Thankfully, before Ming Xiao lost her patience, Song finally left them alone and when Sebastian turned to Ming Xiao remarking how he’d Love to come here with you again, sometime!, she merely forced herself to smile. Sickening as it was for Ming Xiao to admit it, perhaps the irritation and frustration she was feeling came from jealousy of not being the centre of Sebastian’s attention. And of course, she had been so bad at hiding that fact from Sebastian that he was now wearing a boyishly smug smile on his face. Well, a broken clock can be right twice a day… Ming Xiao knew she would have to swallow this loss and move on, but who knows, maybe Sebastian’s little victory will make him grow overconfident…

Ming Xiao leaned close to Sebastian, placing a hand on his arm, “I see, well, perhaps next time you’ll get to meet Song’s eighty-year-old Grandmother, Yawen, she is the one who owns this teahouse and is quite a delightful woman to talk to.”

Sebastian grinned, his eyes still bright from his victory and moved his arm so his hand held hers, “Really? Well, I would be honored to meet Yawen, if she is as much a pleasure to speak with as her granddaughter…”

“Oh, she is, Sebastian, but only if your Cantonese is very fluent, otherwise I fear you would have a hard time understanding Yawen…” It wasn’t true, as Yawen, having lived almost her whole life in America, was very fluent in both English and Cantonese. But Sebastian didn’t need to know that…

“Then I’ll just have to brush up on my Cantonese then…” Sebastian mused, “but, let’s discuss our plans first so we can enjoy the rest of our evening.”

“Yes, I like that idea,” she said with an nod, curling her fingers around Sebastian’s hand and rubbing the tip of her boot against his ankle.

Sebastian’s mouth opened and closed in rapid session before he, in response, brought his foot to lightly tap hers, “The first steps to weakening the Sabbat in Los Angeles are underway. It should be done within the next few nights and then I will be able to plan the next step accordingly.”

Song had come with Ming Xiao’s pot of green tea, laying it on the table. They both exchanged quick pleasantries with her before she left them to their privacy. Thankfully, since Ming Xiao’s wisdom had allowed her to acknowledge where her true problem lay, the irritation she had earlier felt towards the young woman had not returned.

She slowly poured herself a cup of tea, wondering if it would be up to standard, “That’s wonderful, Sebastian…” Ming Xiao congratulated him before picking up her cup to take a small sip. Yes, perfectly made, another good reason to fund this teahouse.

Sebastian’s head was cocked to one side as he watched her drink with half-opened eyes, the toe of his shoe tracing up Ming Xiao’s ankle, “Yes, it’s only the start of a long process, but to get away from the Sabbat for now, how is your study of Nines Rodriguez going? Do you feel you have enough information to truly impersonate him without anyone knowing the difference?”

Truthfully Ming Xiao wasn’t a hundred percent sure if she could, it would depend on the witness. She very much doubted Sebastian would set up the witness to be one of Nines’ friends, they would likely see through her trick, although not necessarily know it was her. More troubling they would more likely cover for him. In fact, considering how popular Nines Rodriguez was among the Kindred, it would be much more helpful for the witness to be someone who was very naïve of the Kindred political situation, for they would be more likely believed rather than seen as yet another schemer.

She stretched her leg out, allowing Sebastian the room to trace further up. The feel of his high-quality black leather shoe cool against her skin sent tingles up her spine. She let out a small breath, when the tip of his shoe brushed against her thigh. Ming Xiao made sure not to give Sebastian an admonishing look when he smiled, all too pleased with himself. Pride after all, comes just before the fall…

“I do believe I can, but who might I ask will be the witness? It would be advantageous for you to have someone too naïve for anyone to think they had a motive in fingering Nines for the murder,” Ming Xiao suggested, placing down her cup and reaching under the table to massage Sebastian’s knee.

Sebastian looked down with interest at her hand as she steady crept up his thigh, “I do have someone in mind, but let’s forget about that for the-” he paused for a moment, frowning in deep thought, “Well, that childe I spared earlier tonight would be perfect, but only if they survive the next few nights…” Sebastian sounded as though he was having some regrets, then shook his head, “Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s put aside business for now,” he withdrew his foot from her thigh and stroked her knee with feathery touches of his long fingers.

“Hmm… that would be nice, but I have to ask, are you still in need of nourishment?” Ming Xiao asked as she unbuttoned her dress collar and pulled it down, enough to fully show her collarbone and bare shoulders. When Sebastian eyed her with caution she added, “The blood that flows through my veins tastes like perfectly normal human blood and won’t artificially bond you to me.”

Sebastian cleared his throat, “No, I wasn’t thinking that…” his eyes moved to roam over her delicately, “It’s just a little unexpected, that’s all…”

Ming Xiao picked up his hand and placed it on her shoulder, which he reflexively gently squeezed, “That’s good, I was hoping you’d show how you would feed on someone without them knowing, as I demonstrated the same on you at our first meeting…”

Sebastian’s eyes briefly widened before then narrowing as he stood up and came behind Ming Xiao, bending down to bring his face close to her neck, “Well, assuming I’ve charmed them enough to be able to do this…” he whispered as his fingers caressed up and down the tops of Ming Xiao’s shoulders, his lips pressing ever so lightly against her ear. She could practically hear him smiling when a breathy sigh escaped past her lips. Sebastian then kissed softly down her jaw, running his fingers across her collarbone and up her throat.

Ming Xiao craned her neck, allowing Sebastian more access as he trailed kisses down to the artery. She moaned when his fangs pierced her flesh, the pinprick pain replaced by an near indescribable pleasure that slowly took over her whole being as Sebastian drained more and more of her blood.

But almost as soon as it had begun, he slowly pulled his fangs off and licked the bite marks with the tip of his tongue, making her shiver in pleasure. His greying pouty lips had indeed felt soft against her throat and now she wondered if they would feel just as good against her own. But she had to pace herself, otherwise risk losing her control over him.

Ming Xiao turned to face Sebastian, keeping her gaze steady, “Well, that was nice… Although, unless you were a terrible kisser, I don’t see how anyone could forget such a trick…”

Sebastian’s hands moved to cup her face, “Well, normally I would use my discipline to wipe the memory away from their mind, but in your case, I’d rather if you didn’t forget…”

“Oh, is that so?” Ming Xiao asked coyly, her hands trailing up to rest upon his chest, “And how do you intend to do that?”

Sebastian chuckled, then pressed his soft lips against Ming Xiao’s and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She kissed back with barely restrained hunger, a hunger she’d never known was truly there before. Her fingers clawed into the lapels of his jacket, tugging him closer. Sebastian pulled Ming Xiao out of her chair, pulling her to stand close to his body, cupping the back of her head as his kiss turned passionate and just as hungry as hers. No longer feeling the need to hold back Ming Xiao grabbed onto his perfectly styled hair, her mouth opening, allowing his tongue to flick against hers. As their kiss deepened and became filthier, Ming Xiao barely heard the clattering sound of her hairpins being dropped to the floor. Sebastian’s fingers threaded through her hair until it loosened, falling down onto her shoulders.

She pushed him forward, his back hitting a nearby wall. Sebastian’s hands now roamed down her back to just about the top of her backside. Ming Xiao nibbled at his lip and roughly grabbed his bottom, Sebastian, nearly yelping in surprise, latched onto hers in response.

Ming Xiao half wondered if they were going to go any further when the sound of pottery hitting the floor, shattering into many pieces, forced them apart. She turned to see the elderly owner of the teahouse, Yawen staring at her and Sebastian in open-mouthed surprise. Before Ming Xiao could explain herself, the blaring of a loud cellphone ringtone sounded.

“I’d better get that,” Sebastian stated sheepishly, quickly pulling out his cellphone and answering the call with a stern voice, “Yes! This better be good!”

Ming Xiao smiled sweetly at Yawen, who, after taking a quick glance at Sebastian said in Cantonese, “I hope your family won’t be too disappointed in your choice of man…”

“My family is long dead to care that much. Plus, he and I are only together temporarily...” she answered back, thankful that Sebastian didn’t understand Cantonese. Yawen nodded knowingly at Ming Xiao and bent down to pick up the pieces of the broken teapot.


	3. Pleasurable Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm sorry for not posting for nearly two weeks, life got a little in the way.  
> Anyway, now we finally have the chapter that justifies the Explicit rating I've given this fanfic! XD  
> Again, comments are appreciated.

The bar of the Empire hotel was filled with the chatter of lively guests, usually of the upper crust of society and discussions of current events in the stock market or gossip about neighbours flitted in and out of Sebastian’s ears. In amongst the nonstop nonsense that spilled out of nearby mortals’ mouths, the news of the Ankaran sarcophagus that had finally arrived from Turkey to Los Angeles, though in somewhat strange circumstances with the crew of the Elizabeth Dane having vanished into thin air, was putting Sebastian on edge. 

It also didn’t help that he was still thinking about that kiss with Ming Xiao last week. Sebastian had only kissed Ming Xiao to gain some ground in their seduction game, as he could tell she was running circles around him. But, even though Sebastian could tell from how hungry and passionate Ming Xiao’s lips had been that she had gotten more drawn into him, he had to admit that kiss had ensnared him in further as well. The memory of how quickly and easily she had managed to take back the reins and of how he had allowed her to push him against the wall and grope his backside, had Sebastian’s blood quickening more than he expected. Also the fact Ming Xiao’s blood had tasted like some of the best mortal blood he’d ever tasted in a longtime, kept recalling itself to his mind. What might have happened if the owner of the teahouse, Yawen hadn’t interrupted them, Sebastian didn’t even want to think about. 

There had been times during these last tense nights when Sebastian had allowed himself to fantasise about the sexual possibilities between himself and Ming Xiao, if only to prepare himself for the inevitable deepening of their affair. Even though throughout the week they hadn’t kissed again, Sebastian had noted how often their flirting had grown bolder, even the flirty little touches they’d given each other had become more sensual in nature. The enjoyable distractions had slowly superseded the business part of their meetings, to the point they became friendly casual encounters between Ming Xiao and himself, as though they were truly happy to be in each other’s company. Ridiculous, of course, but Sebastian couldn’t but look forward to these meetings with Ming Xiao, it gave him a break from the growing frustrations of being the Prince of the Camarilla, with the Primogen feeling the need to constantly remind him of their displeasure. 

Sebastian smiled broadly when Ming Xiao walked into the bar, she was wearing that red dress with the patterned lace sleeves again, admittedly a favourite of his. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her as she moved elegantly towards the bar, even the inane chatter of the kine seemed to mute itself. Though the concerns regarding the sarcophagus weighed heavily in his mind, he was able to push them away when Ming Xiao took a seat in the stool next to him. The brushing of her bare knee against his trouser leg still brought little shivers down his spine. “I do so hope I’ve not been making you wait long, Sebastian,” Ming Xiao said softly, her fingers slowly tracing up his arm.

“Oh, I’ve only gotten here just a few minutes ago,” Sebastian lied. He had been sitting at this bar for at least twenty minutes, though not because Ming Xiao was late this time but rather he hadn’t been able to stand being in his office another minute longer. “You are looking beautiful as usual, Ming, going anywhere special later?” he asked teasingly, knowing full well she would counter with a thinly veiled insult, something like, Oh, nowhere special, just with you!

Ming Xiao rested her chin on her hand, her fingers now tracing along Sebastian’s tie, “Well, it depends.” He caught a whiff of her perfume as she leaned closer, a soft floral scent, “If you don’t mind moving away from the endless chatter to somewhere more private…” Ming Xiao tugged on his tie, pulling him even closer to her. Sebastian allowed it.

Frustratingly he was brought within a hair’s width of her red lips, Ming Xiao did so love to tease him with these almost kisses. “I can get us a room, here if you like,” Sebastian said, sounding annoyingly just like a lust-struck fool that Ming Xiao was taking for a ride. Perhaps the eagerness inside him to bring them to a new level was affecting him more than he’d like to admit?

Ming Xiao sighed dramatically, releasing her hold on his tie, “Actually, I was thinking of coming back with you to your private quarters. I would hate to be the sort of secret that you could only indulge in such impersonal places.” 

It was scary, how he almost agreed right away to her coming to Ventrue tower. Thankfully, Sebastian managed to steel himself, “Ming, you are not some dirty secret that I would ever disrespect in taking you to places of ill repute. The Empire Hotel is a fin-”

Ming Xiao’s musical laughter interrupted Sebastian, she shook her head at him like he was being such a silly boy, “Oh Sebastian, I didn’t think you would take it so seriously! Of course you can get us a room!” 

Sebastian forced a smile and stood up from his seat, “Of course, I knew that! But, I just wanted to be sure.” He could tell from her widening grin that she didn’t really believe his little lie. “I’ll be right back.” As Sebastian walked out of the bar, he could feel Ming Xiao’s eyes on him, his hands shook a little in anticipation of what could happen.

The elevator to their floor was constantly interrupted by numerous guests entering and leaving, making the delaying of what Ming Xiao wanted to do with him almost unbearable to Sebastian. One of the guests was a sleazy looking Russian man, no doubt a mobster with the three bodyguards he had with him, packing the elevator tight with their huge muscled bodies! Another guest was an eerily beautiful redheaded woman, obviously a Kindred, though one Sebastian didn’t know, and she didn’t seem to recognise him or Ming Xiao either. A relief, as Sebastian couldn’t afford having his alliance with Ming Xiao being found out. The redhead had blatantly used her Presence on him, drawing his eyes to her hungry eyes, as if she couldn’t wait to devour him, in what way he wasn’t sure! Thankfully, Sebastian was powerful enough not to be so easily taken in by a Kindred younger than him and was able to turn his gaze back to Ming Xiao. He felt some relief when they reached the redhead’s floor and she left the elevator, his mind feeling much clearer, though Ming Xiao scowled at him. Ahh, she was jealous again! Perhaps she would do more with him after all, since it had been that young woman from the teahouse fawning over him that had got her to invite him to drink her blood and of course, allowed him to kiss her as well… 

The other guests were normal kine, a small of group of tourists chattering away amongst themselves or young newly married couples kissing each other in public, not caring who watched or genuinely just being sickeningly sweet, still stuck in their honeymoon phase. When one of those couples left the elevator, Sebastian wagered with Ming Xiao that they would be divorced within a year. He half expected her to say he was being overly cynical but she had instead said they wouldn’t even last six months!

Finally, they reached their room, lavishly furnished with a large red sofa, four-poster bed, a personal bar, wide screen television and an ensuite bathroom. Ming Xiao made her way over to the bar and began to mix herself a drink. Sebastian joined her, grabbing a wine glass and pulling out of his pinstriped suit jacket a blood bag of his preferred type, pouring it into the glass. The smell was intoxicating.

With their drinks in hand they seated themselves on the sofa, “I heard on the radio about the warehouse in Santa Monica exploding, I assume your people’s handiwork?” Ming Xiao asked after she took her first sip of her Manhattan.

“Yes, it was,” Sebastian smiled proudly, still flushed with success. “The Sabbat have been setback a nasty blow. They’ll be having a hard time getting weapons for their vile little sect!” he chuckled, “They won’t be able to hold a single position in Santa Monica now!” 

Ming Xiao placed her cocktail down and leaned close towards him, “How wonderful! What’s the next step?”

Sebastian trailed his fingers up Ming Xiao’s lace sleeve, brushing his fingertips against the cutouts that revealed a hint of her bare arm, “Well, that still needs to be sorted it out before I can make any further plans…” When his fingers reached the top of her shoulder, he leaned his face close to hers, “but let’s forget about the Sabbat for now and focus on something much more pleasant.” Yes, he truly wanted to forget everything outside this room tonight, if only just for a moment.

Ming Xiao’s eyes sharpened and she pulled away from him to drink her cocktail, “And about Nines Rodriguez? When is he supposed to be murdering Alister Grout? I’ve been very patient, this far,” 

Sebastian almost gritted his teeth at Ming Xiao’s mentioning of Nines Rodriguez. If only he hadn’t been the one to rescue the fledgling from those shovel heads in Downtown. It could make their witnessing of Ming Xiao disguised as Nines killing Grout a little problematic. After all who would want to get their rescuer into trouble? But there were ways of dealing with that, if he had to. Sebastian sipped on his blood, his annoyance calming down a bit, “The Primogen haven’t asked me to find out what’s happened to Grout yet, but don’t worry, it won’t be for too much longer. Believe me, I’m eager to have Nines Rodriguez out of our hair as soon as possible.”

Ming Xiao glanced at him over her Manhattan, her eyes unreadable. She drank the rest of her cocktail in silence. “Of course, I understand, you must do things in the right way, my apologies, Sebastian,” Ming Xiao said graciously.

“Oh there’s no need for you to be apologetic, Ming, I can understand your concerns for the delay but let’s forget all that and enjoy ourselves.” He took another sip of his blood, then placed the glass onto the table and moved closer to Ming Xiao with his hand gently running up her leg. 

“Oh, I agree,” she purred, removing her red hairpins and placing them on the table without taking her alluring jade eyes off him, her long black hair falling down onto her shoulders. Sebastian could feel Ming Xiao’s eyes on his hand’s ascent up her leg towards her thigh. He half expected for her to stop or redirect him but instead she leaned away from him on the sofa and lifted her high heeled boot up, the tip tracing circles around his chest. Excitement built up steadily inside Sebastian as he leaned towards her, his hand reaching up from her thigh to her hip. Moving her boot off his chest, Sebastian brought his body closer to Ming Xiao’s, his hands wandering up her legs and arms. 

“Are you going to kiss me again, Sebastian? Ravish me again?” she breathily said as he brought his face close to hers.

“Only if you want me to, ma cherie,” Sebastian answered, his voice fraying, feeling the restraints of holding back the hunger falling away, “if it makes you feel better, I want you to have your way with me as well!”

“Oh, I do!” was all Ming Xiao said sensuously, the moment before she grabbed onto his hair tightly and hungrily pressed her lips onto his. Sebastian kissed back passionately, wrapping his arms around Ming Xiao’s shoulders and pressing himself against her body. The kiss became quickly filthy as they licked each other’s tongues and lightly nibbled one another’s lips. Ming Xiao’s hands roamed across his chest, swiftly undoing the buttons of his long suit jacket, before reaching inside to caress and grope his torso and hips. 

Sebastian pulled away briefly to slip off his jacket and loosen his tie, while Ming Xiao unbuttoned his white dress shirt to reveal his bare chest. She tugged onto his loose tie, pulling him back down to her, capturing his lips into another passionate kiss. As they kissed, Sebastian caressed Ming Xiao’s thighs, reaching under her dress, feeling the silky soft skin, wanting to feast his eyes on more of her body. 

Ming Xiao chuckled at Sebastian letting out a shuddering gasp as she twisted and pinched his nipples harshly. He groaned against her lips when Ming Xiao grasped onto the front of his trousers, his cock quickly filling with blood, hardening to show his appreciation. Sebastian felt a mixture of shame and excitement in allowing himself to react so verbally and physically in his wantonness towards Ming Xiao but he tried to reassure himself that it was all for her benefit and to gain more power over her, though he couldn’t help feeling that was no longer true, if it even ever had been.

He sat up, bringing Ming Xiao with him still locked in the kiss, snaking his hand behind her to unzip her dress all the way down. She pushed Sebastian back, making him lay on the sofa and straddled his hips. Agonisingly slowly she pulled down the front of her dress, revealing the black lacy bra underneath. Sebastian attempted to sit up but Ming Xiao suddenly pushed him back down again with both of her hands on his shoulders. 

She bent her face down to capture Sebastian’s lips again and held his arms up above his head in a show of her complete dominance over him. As Prince, especially as a Ventrue, he should’ve found this unacceptable, yet he didn’t. Instead it was arousing to have his control wrenched away by another, even more so with a woman like Ming Xiao. Sebastian relaxed, letting her take the reins and allowing himself to enjoy Ming Xiao’s lips kissing down his throat towards his chest. He closed his eyes and bit his lip to suppress any embarrassing moans that would escape as she licked and lightly bit his nipples, while her fingers gently clawed his ticklish sides. “S-s-should w-we go t-t-to the bed?” Sebastian asked in a pant, feeling again the mixture of shame and excitement caused by how much Ming Xiao was affecting him. 

Ming Xiao grabbed Sebastian’s chin, forcing him to look straight at her, “I think that’s a fine idea, Sebastian. Why don’t you go to the bed and undress for me?” Without even thinking about her request and the implications of it, Sebastian automatically nodded his head with eagerness, earning him a very predatory smile from Ming Xiao that sent shivers down his spine. 

The second she got off him, Sebastian leapt off the sofa to rush towards the bed. As he climbed onto the bed, his eyes watched as Ming Xiao picked up his glass of blood before then following him to stand next to the bed. Sebastian’s fingers were shaky as he undid his tie and slipped off his white dress shirt as sensuously as possible, unsure how well he was doing, since Ming Xiao’s watching eyes were damnably unreadable. He half hoped she would drink from his glass of blood, the smell of her soft floral perfume and the blood mixing into an intoxicating cocktail for him. But sadly, she made no moves to sip from it, merely idly swirled the blood around in the glass.

As Sebastian removed his shoes and socks, Ming Xiao snidely quipped, “I hope I don’t have to wait until the Sixth Age has come and passed by the time you’ve undressed…”

Sebastian growled a little under his breath and ungracefully pulled off his trousers and underpants, tossing them across the room. The way her eyes grew hungry and aroused at the sight of his naked form pleased Sebastian wonderfully. He levelled his gaze at her, as he touched himself, caressing along his chest and thighs. “Now unless your Sixth Age has arrived yet, as you can see I’ve gotten undressed for you. So perhaps you could be ever so kind in returning the favour?”

She seemed to ponder on his request for an age. He slowly stroked his cock, hoping this would speed up her agreement. Instead though, Ming Xiao merely sat next to Sebastian on the bed, watching him stroking himself, her glance seemingly indifferent to the sight before her. That wouldn’t do! Sebastian tried to bring her closer but she pressed her boot onto his chest, holding him at bay. “No, no, Sebastian, please continue. I would hate to interrupt this lovely sight unfolding before me…” Ming Xiao said sultrily, wagging her finger at him. 

Sebastian bit his lip in frustration, leaning on his elbows to give Ming Xiao a better of view of him as he lightly tugged and twisted his hardened nipple and increased the stroking pace of his cock. He felt his cock growing harder under her intense gaze as he made a show of playing with himself, a part of his arousal being fuelled by the fear she would do nothing but watch him bring himself to climax. “When are you going to help me with this? I-I” he hated how completely undone his voice was sounding, how careless he was in letting her see how deeply she was affecting him. “I c-could use your-” he was feeling too close to the edge, he closed his eyes, unable to handle her eyes on him. 

He opened his eyes again at the sound of Ming Xiao’s laughter and saw she had pulled down the rest of her dress, revealing matching black lacy panties. “Since I’m feeling merciful this evening, you can have a rest and pleasure me instead.” She seductively undid her bra before then tossing it at him, hitting him squarely in the face. Sebastian quickly threw the bra off him and crawled over to Ming Xiao, who was now lounging on her back on the bed, her small perky breasts looking soft to the touch.

“You not going to take off the rest of your undergarments?” he asked musingly, as he bent over Ming Xiao, his hands taking hold of her breasts, caressing and kissing them. 

“I believe you should have the honour of taking them off,” she said with a contented sigh, as Sebastian ran his tongue over one of her nipples, which hardened beautifully under his touch. 

“Merci beaucoup!” he breathed, his greedy eyes roaming across Ming Xiao’s sensational, slightly curved slim body. She looked even better undressed than he’d ever imagined in his perverse sexual fantasies! “But before I do that, I would like to shower you with my appreciative touches…” Sebastian ignored Ming Xiao’s chuckle at his admittedly silly phrase, to focus on caressing and massaging nearly every inch of her body, playing special attention to her nipples, as they seemed rather sensitive. 

He kissed along Ming Xiao’s neck, rubbed with one hand her inner thigh and pinched her already hard nipple with the other, enjoying the sounds of her soft pants and moans. Ming Xiao gripped onto his hair when he brushed his fingers against the crotch of her panties, her clitoris hardening as he rubbed it through the fabric. She hissed and panted harshly, her nails digging into Sebastian’s scalp, though he could care less as the slight pain merely made him more aroused. Sebastian lowered his head down between Ming Xiao’s legs, laying kisses and light bites around her inner thighs, while continuing to rub her clit through her panties. She breathed moans through gritted teeth, her hands pushing Sebastian’s head towards her crotch, “P-please, get on with it, I-I-I insist!” Ming Xiao said in a low moan.

Sebastian chuckled as he slowly pulled off her panties, his voice sly, “Of course, how rude of me…” Once the last of Ming Xiao’s underwear was removed and thrown across the bed, he brushed with his fingers the trimmed hairs of her Venus mound, before trailing down to part open her labia, she was already quite wet. “It’s seems every inch of you is very beautiful, ma cherie,” he said smoothly before tracing around and on her erect clit with the tip of his tongue, causing Ming Xiao to make a shuddering growling noise that made his aching cock twitch a little. Sebastian licked around the outside of her entrance while at the same time rubbing circles on her clit with his thumb. Ming Xiao’s hips suddenly thrusted forward into Sebastian’s face, grinding her pussy against his nose. He lapped and suckled her clit as much was possible with the nonstop grinding movement, eliciting more cries from her.

Pressing one hand on her hips to halt their grinding, Sebastian gave long licks to her clit and inserted a finger inside Ming Xiao’s entrance and then added another. The sharp pain from Ming Xiao’s clawing fingers digging into his scalp, as he thrust his fingers backwards and forwards inside her and sucked onto her clit, made Sebastian’s cock throb again, it was aching and longing to be inside her. But he would be patient, as his wish was to hear Ming Xiao beg and plead with him to take her. He sped up the pace of his fingers, lifting his head to watch Ming Xiao arching her body and throwing her head back with sharp, panting moans. “Hmm…what a lovely sight you are gifting me, ma cherie. I almost don’t want to do anything else to disturb it. Rather I would be simply content to play with you and watch those wonderful reactions of yours!” Sebastian said with barely disguised desperate lust in his voice, not quite the cool calmness he’d been going for. Surely she would notice.

She did, “Is that so, your tone tells me a quite different story, Sebastian,” she said coyly, dragging him up by his hair from her pussy to her lips, kissing him again with great hunger. His hard cock rubbed against her clit, causing them both to let out small moans in unison, “Be honest with yourself, Sebastian, you want to bury that needy prick of yours inside me, don’t you?” she challenged, rubbing herself against him.

Sebastian, chewed on his lip, not willing to give in and beg her, despite so badly wanting to. He couldn’t. If he did, then it could be all over. 

“Sebastian? Are you really going to bear it like a martyr? I don’t believe the Christian religion would make you a saint for foolishly resisting the opportunity to climax. Especially since you’ve already given in to temptation.” Ming Xiao’s mocking of his resolve nearly made Sebastian throw in the towel and take her then and there.

But he could bear it, he was a Ventrue, Ventrue are meant to endure anything. “I haven’t been a Christian in such a long time, so sainthood means nothing to me!” Sebastian panted, pressing the head of his cock against her clit, “But, who’s to say that I’m the only one denying myself? Surely you’re the one so desperately trying to resist the temptation to let yourself go,” he said, kissing along the curve of her throat. Sebastian hissed a groan when Ming Xiao reached down between them and guided his cock inside her pussy, the tight wetness around him made him want to rut against her like a wild animal. 

Throwing all cares of his place in their seduction games out the window, Sebastian wrapped Ming Xiao’s legs around his waist and began thrusting inside her at a fast pace. Her fingers scratched down the flesh of his back, getting dangerously close to drawing blood, as he kept up his pace. She thrust her hips in harmony with each of his movements. The tightening of her pussy was getting to him, it had been sometime since he’d felt this amazingly undone by a lover. Sebastian kissed up along Ming Xiao’s throat to her lips, their tongues meeting and flicking at each other. Her hands latched on tight to his buttocks, squeezing both cheeks in time to his thrusts. “Sebastian, this is very nice what you are doing for me…but would you like for me to return the favour?” Ming Xiao asked, as her fingers trailed down to lightly stroke his entrance. Sebastian gasped at the sensation. 

It had been a little while since he last had let another take him like that, to allow someone to have the advantage over his weakness. The last time that had happened, he had ended up spilling secrets too easily to a very sexual Malkavian. Sebastian at the time had been a fool not to realise how easily she was playing him, so sure had he been that he was in control. When he realised how stupid he’d been in underestimating her, Sebastian had cursed himself. He had to give it to Jeanette Voerman, she had spotted his weaknesses quickly and played to them beautifully. It had been quite the humbling experience to say the least. 

Sebastian knew the same could happen with Ming Xiao if he accepted her tempting offer of pleasuring him anally. Perhaps the reason he had been too easily fooled was because he’d previously denied indulging that little pleasure for too long, all in an effort to show his elders that he was like them, above such sexual needs. And where the hell had it gotten him? The Primogen still didn’t respect him and he had gotten taken for a ride by a Kindred way younger than him, though admittedly Jeanette was a Malkavian so that must’ve helped. But even so, repressing himself had made Sebastian easy prey. Maybe the way to combat it was to indulge in this enough times to lessen the affect it had on him? Sebastian breathed as he answered finally, “Yes, please, if you wish to.” 

Ming Xiao brought two of her fingers to his mouth, “I do wish to in fact,” she said with a wide-toothed grin. He desperately sucked deeply on her fingers, hoping his saliva would be enough to allow them to slip easily inside him. After Ming Xiao had pulled out her fingers, satisfied with how wet they were, she brought them back down to his entrance, teasing the rim with pressing circular movements. Sebastian bit down on a moan as he thrust more roughly this time, feeling her tightening around his cock. His fangs dug into his bottom lip, drawing little drops of blood the moment Ming Xiao’s fingers finally penetrated past his rim. She showed him no mercy as he had her. When she pumped her fingers inside him, she immediately reached his prostate, as though her fingers had strangely grown in length. 

But Sebastian didn’t pause to consider the curiosity of the matter, the constant rubbing of his prostate as he thrust into Ming Xiao was making him shudder, and he increased the pace, unconcerned that the moans leaving his lips sounded pathetic. At least he wasn’t the only one losing themselves to this filthiness, judging from Ming Xiao’s hurried lustful voice as she growled in his ear, “Oh yes, like that! You love it wh-when I-I do this to you! I should’ve brought a strap-on with me, if I’d known h-how wonderfully you would tighten around my fingers!” 

The idea of being fucked from behind by Ming Xiao’s strap-on made Sebastian’s mind go wild with possibilities for their future encounters. Having a taste of her only made him want more of Ming Xiao, forgetting all about the fact that she was only his ally for the moment until all their mutual interests were settled. But that was for later to worry about. 

“Perhaps, I-I could bring one next time we meet up again,” he said before kissing Ming Xiao’s lips deeply, running his fingers down to rub her clit. She groaned quietly against his lips, her fingers pumping into him more roughly and her pussy squeezing around him one final time before wetness covered his cock. Sebastian came not long after, shooting semen deep inside her. 

Feeling a wave of satisfaction and weariness Sebastian gently slumped against her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He peppered Ming Xiao’s face with gentle kisses and she kissed him back almost sleepily, pulling her fingers out of his hole. He rolled off Ming Xiao to lay on his back close to her, his fingers softly touching along her jaw, “I hope you enjoyed that as much I did.” 

Ming Xiao shifted herself closer to Sebastian, allowing him to pull her in for a hug, “Hmm…I’m not sure,” she mused, tucking her head in the crook of his neck, “We may have to do this a lot more times, before I can be sure…”

Sebastian chuckled, pressing a kiss onto her knuckles. He had half expected Ming Xiao to say something like that, “Well, then, I do hope to prove to you that I am a worthy lover for such a woman as yourself!”

Ming Xiao, giggled, lifting up her head and kissing him briefly, “Such determination! I do hope that includes you bringing that strap-on with you next time we meet. Your enthusiasm during our lovemaking increased immensely when I fingered you!” 

“I think that most men would have more enthusiasm while making love, if their prostate was so beautifully stimulated as mine was!” Sebastian pointed out, holding Ming Xiao an edge tighter and kissing her endlessly, wanting so badly to prolong this distraction from his life as a Prince.

“I suppose you’re right about that. So, what shall we do-” Ming Xiao was cut off by the ringtone of Sebastian’s cell phone.

“Wonderful!” Sebastian grumbled, moving out of his embrace with Ming Xiao and rushing to his jacket to pull out his cell phone. He answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice, “Yes? What is it?”

His secretary was on the other end, “Mr LaCroix, the Primogen are waiting for you in your office.”

Sebastian sighed, “Good, tell them I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” After hearing his secretary’s affirmation of his order, he hung up and turned to Ming Xiao, saying with a smirk, “I believe tonight is the night that Nines Rodriguez will be witnessed murdering Alister Grout.”


	4. The Madness of Omens

Ming Xiao slammed down the stake one final time into Grout’s chest, the vile Kindred finally, finally burning into dust. Staring down at the ash-covered skeleton laying on the bed, Ming Xiao still felt somewhat in a daze. The voices were muttering curses, warnings of unknown threats and disturbing whispers of every sin she’d ever committed in her life or unlife, mocking any justifications she had ever had for those sins. The most horrific of all were the harsh demon like voices murmuring that her efforts to stop the Age of Sorrow were worthless and pointless, that the Yama Kings would rise again!

When Ming Xiao had made her way through Grout’s eccentrically decorated mansion, everything had gone pretty smoothly, aside from having to solve strange puzzles to even get to the Primogen’s personal quarters. It was easy to sneak pass the oddly dressed inmates, that apparently, according to Sebastian, were Grout’s ghouls, blood-addled servants of the Cainites. Where it had all gone slightly wrong had been the moment she had stepped inside Grout’s bedroom. The Malkavian Primogen had stared at her with an eerily faraway look, that had brought a small chill down Ming Xiao’s spine.

Back in China, how long ago Ming Xiao could barely remember, but it had to have been before the Boxer rebellion had occurred, she had once seen a Kindred gazing straight at her in a very similar way to Grout. That Kindred’s gaze had been faraway yet also piercing, and given her the feeling that they could see something of her future, a future that made them smile at her, an awful cruel smile. Ming Xiao had captured the Kindred, used any means to get them to tell her what they had seen of her future, it had become an obsession to know the intricacies of her fate. But it was to no avail, no matter what, the Kindred had simply laughed and mocked her, saying that telling her would ruin the surprise. In the end she destroyed the Kindred in her frustration and tried to put aside the whole affair. And she had eventually forgotten about it…until now.

Grout hadn’t even seemed surprised to see her in his chambers, instead muttering that the Prince had decided to send a Mirrored Sixes to destroy him. As Ming Xiao had advanced to attack Grout, her mind had begun to feel strange, the room around her twisting and turning. Ming Xiao had felt sluggish, weary and weak as she charged or rather stumbled over towards Grout. Never in such a long time had she felt so weak and overwhelmed and the sensation was so difficult to shake off. Luckily though, Ming Xiao did manage to overcome the worst of the strange sensation in her mind and throwing Grout onto his bed, quickly staked and chained him down. As punishment for making her feel so weak, she had made Grout’s last moments pure and utter agony.

Ming Xiao climbed off the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor, trying to meditate these awful dark whispers away. However, meditation was only making the voices even louder and more horrifying, so she quickly stood up. How in Buddha’s name was she going to be able to rid herself of these voices? **_You can’t, little Ming Xiao! You cannot rid yourself of the voices of your ancestors! Just as you cannot explain away your crimes against the mortals in your care!_** Ming Xiao grit her teeth at the harsh whispers. They were not the voices of her ancestors, she knew what they had sounded like. **_Is that so?_ _You disbelieve us? Regardless, you will suffer terribly for your crimes! And where, where should you go? To the Hell of disease and burrowing maggots, perhaps? Or maybe you’ll have a lovely swim in the rushing River of Blood with all the other lost souls screaming in agony-_**

“Enough!” Ming Xiao screamed, kicking opening the door and rushing out of the bedroom, she had to get out of here.

Getting out of Grout’s mansion took Ming Xiao longer than traveling through the first time. She got briefly lost in a maze-like area with twisted upside down and sideways hallways and false doors that led to nowhere, that made it seem like she was going around in circles, the sobbing and violent inmates littering the whole place. The voices were again being disturbing, making it harder for her to focus, speaking of the various hells she could be going to when the Yama Kings rose once more. It had gotten so bad, Ming Xiao had even resorted to bashing her head against a wall until they had at last quietened down. Perhaps they had been pleased with her self-harming. In the end it didn’t matter, Ming Xiao eventually made her way back into the front hall, pausing for a moment to check if her form was still Nines Rodriguez’s. Thankfully she still looked like the hardened rebel leader.

Ignoring a female inmate hysterically crying in a corner, Ming Xiao pushed open the front doors and strode outside exactly how Nines would have and saw the Fledgling walking up to her along the path. “You? What are you doing here?” Ming Xiao had asked them, though not in the angry, confused way she had intended, instead sounding somewhat dazed and lost. The Fledgling’s eyebrows had quirked up, their eyes questioning. They were saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear them, the voices drowning all sound. **_Do you really think you can stop the Age of Sorrow? You know that it’s the order of things, part of the cycle and your actions are doing nothing but delaying the inevitable! So your kind’s pointless crusade against the western Kindred is useless, the world cannot be cleansed by their blood alone…_**

“No!” Ming Xiao said with great irritation, only realising too late that she hadn’t just been answering the voice but also the Fledgling as well.

“That wasn’t really a yes or no question…” They had said, looking at her strangely. This wasn’t good, at best they would think there was something wrong with Nines, at worst they would guess instantly that she wasn’t Nines at all…

Ming Xiao coughed, perhaps she could still recover from this, “You should get of here. This place is bad news.” Again, she had sounded softer than Nines ever would, the dazed feeling nearly overwhelming her. “Uh…pardon me,” Ming Xiao quickly pushed passed the perplexed Fledgling, rushing through the gate, desperate to be rid of this mansion.

The long walk back to downtown had done Ming Xiao a lot of good, the awful voices had thankfully faded away and her mind was clearing. But with her mind clearer came the awful realisation that she might’ve really screwed everything up by completely botching her act as Nines Rodriguez. She could only hope that the Fledgling seeing Nines leaving Grout’s mansion and finding the Primogen’s ashes and skeleton would be enough. Hopefully they would think that was why the Anarch leader had acted so strangely, because he had just committed a murder and was fleeing in a panic. Thinking of that made Ming Xiao feel a tiny bit better.

Still disguised as Nines, she made her way back to the room at the Empire Hotel. In the elevator was that sickening honeymoon phase couple from earlier, talking nonsense to each other about what restaurant they were going to have breakfast at. The wife kept shooting down all the suggestions her husband made. It wasn’t as though her husband was suggesting they have breakfast at freaking Taco Hell! When the couple noticed her watching them, they both quickly put on smiles and changed the subject to something much blander, like the weather. It was disgusting how they were acting like the perfect couple, despite the undercurrent of issues that would plague their relationship. Ming Xiao had half a mind to start flirting with the bride, use that rough seductive charm Nines so easily oozed, add yet another thing to his list of crimes. What would be worst? Killing a Primogen in cold blood or destroying a fledgling marriage with a wink and smooth words? Then again, maybe it wasn’t the bride who was going to throw her whole marriage away, the miserable groom could be interested from the way he was looking Nines’ body up and down…

Perhaps that couple’s marriage lasting six months was a little too optimistic? thought Ming Xiao as she left the couple. Honestly, just a wink at the husband and saying he could do better had launched the couple into a rowdy argument. Turned out the reason the husband had agreed to marry his wife in the first place was not because he necessarily loved her, but rather to save his wicked homosexual soul! Mortals were so strange sometimes! Oh well, perhaps that man will no longer stray from his path anymore…

Ming Xiao crept inside the room, seeing Sebastian sitting on the sofa, watching intently a news report covering the Ankaran sarcophagus arrival in Los Angeles and the strange disappearance of the crew. She carefully snuck up behind him and suddenly leaped over the sofa, landing right on the seat beside Sebastian, making him jump. “Rodriguez?!?” he gasped, his eyes filled with confusion and panic.

“Yeah, it’s me you son of a bitch!” she growled gruffly, pulling Sebastian onto her lap, it was thrilling to watch him melt into her arms with fear and a hint of arousal in his eyes. Ahh, perhaps Sebastian was also someone who found Nines Rodriguez’s form incredibly pleasing? Cupping the back of his neck, Ming Xiao brought her lips an inch away from Sebastian’s, “And I’m gonna make you pay for framing me for Grout’s murder…”

Sebastian’s eyes became wide, both of his hands trembling as they placed themselves onto her chest, “I-I don’t know what yo-you’re thinking breaking into my-” he was silenced by Ming Xiao pressing her lips onto his. Oh, how wonderfully Sebastian just gave himself completely over to her, his return kisses desperate in their attempt to keep up. He even opened his mouth up for her tongue to explore and meet his.

But despite going along with her passionate kisses and licks, Sebastian shoved her off him, his face twisting into disgust. “That’s enough!” he panted, “Change back, Ming!”

Ming Xiao did so, shifting the skin, bone and muscle back to her true form, the process taking only a few seconds. “A shame, Sebastian, I rather liked your enthusiasm towards me when I was like Rodriguez… is that something I have to be concerned about?” she teased, grinning widely at Sebastian’s sulky expression.

“The only thing you have to be concerned about is whether I will let you have your way with me tonight after all!” Sebastian said harshly, standing up from the sofa with a huff. Sebastian took in a breath and sat back down on the sofa, looking at her straight in the eye, “I’m assuming that Grout’s been taken care of and Nines Rodriguez has been witnessed by the Fledgling. That is correct, yes?”

Oh, her sweet Prince was trying to be all commanding now, was he? “Yes, Grout has seen his final death and Nines Rodriguez has been seen leaving the mansion by your darling little Fledgling!” Ming Xiao said brightly, not mentioning anything about the awful time she had with her mission. Sebastian didn’t need to know any new weaknesses she had acquired tonight.

Sebastian chuckled heartily, “That’s good, when the Fledgling reports back to me, and all the Primogen vote for the blood hunt, Nines Rodriguez will truly be out of the picture!”

“That’s wonderful,” Ming Xiao mused, leaning over to Sebastian, her fingers playing with his tie before twisting it around and tugging him closer, “Perhaps, we could have a little celebration…?”

The corners of Sebastian’s mouth quirked up, “Yes, that would be nice,” he said, grasping onto her shoulders, his lips soon capturing hers passionately and deeply, his fingers trailing down to her thigh, slowly moving underneath her dress. Ming Xiao grabbed onto his hair, tugging it hard, enjoying the soft gasp Sebastian made against her lips. Ming Xiao then pushed him on his back. Straddling him, she quickly unbuttoned and opened up his jacket, Sebastian glancing up at her with anticipation in his eyes and a breathless smile on his lips.

Ming Xiao was about to swiftly rip off his dress shirt when the television made an announcement, “ **Breaking News, a mansion in the Hollywood Hills has caught on fire and the blaze is spreading fast!” The scene soon cut away from the news anchor to footage of Grout’s mansion in flames**.

 _Yes! Let that cursed place burn into ash, back to the hell whence it came! Its curse of madness be stripped from this world!_ Ming Xiao thought to herself with fury, as she numbly watched the footage.


	5. Trouble in Paradise

Ming Xiao sighed in frustration, for the past twenty minutes Sebastian hadn’t answered any of her calls. Shortly after seeing the breaking news report on the fire destroying that accursed mansion, Sebastian had gotten a message saying the Fledgling was waiting for him at his office. He had told her it would only take about half an hour and he’d be back to continue their celebration. That had been an hour ago and Sebastian still hadn’t come back.

Ming Xiao’s fingers twitched nervously on her lap, unable to keep still. Normally she wouldn’t be so agitated and stressed when someone was running late, but after suffering the hell that was Grout’s mansion, she was feeling anything but her usual self. The not too distant memories of getting lost, plagued by the voices spiting out omens and having to resort to bashing her head against a wall to quiet them still played vividly in Ming Xiao’s mind. And worse, there was the ever panic inducing anxiety of her possible failure to act convincingly as Nines Rodriguez in front of the Fledgling. The hope that the Fledgling would completely disregard her botched effort in the belief that Nines was only acting strangely due to being guilty of murder, had begun to seem naïve at best.

She needed a release from all this pent-up panic and anger at herself for letting some Cainite get the better of her. Sex with Sebastian was supposed to be that release but he wasn’t here right now. Ming Xiao knew she could simply just go downstairs to the bar and pick up any beautiful mortal to her liking and relieve her tension that way but to do that seemed distasteful to her. A ridiculous, stupid idea, Ming Xiao knew but perhaps she was still affected by her and Sebastian’s lovemaking earlier this evening. Unsurprising in a way, as the sweet indulgent memories of how he so willingly and completely fell apart sexually, allowing her to take control of him in so many ways, was a balm to her troubled mind.

But the very idea of marching up to his tower and demanding to know what had taken him so long was insulting to Ming Xiao’s pride. Though perhaps it would be a good way to let Sebastian believe that he still had a dog in this race, and she couldn’t just sit here stewing in the horrible memories of Grout either. She sighed, standing up and shifting her form into one of Sebastian’s Kindred employees. Sometimes one had to bare one’s neck to another to gain more ground in the game.

It was so easy to convince the innocent wide-eyed security guard in the front entrance to simply let her up to Sebastian’s penthouse with a little lie about her forgetting something in the office. The bottom of Ventrue tower was completely covered in mirrorshine grey marble. A spinning blue neon sign proudly displayed **_LaCroix_**. Ming Xiao fought the urge to roll her eyes and chuckle at Sebastian’s need to boost his ego. The offices were lined with marble and were sleek and modern looking, a real contrast to the Napoleonic era golden accented honey cream wallpaper in the hallway leading directly to his office.

Entering through the double doors, Ming Xiao found Sebastian standing by the large fireplace staring into the flames thoughtfully. It was strange for a creature such as Sebastian with an aversion to fire not to have a safety grate over the fireplace. Then again, Ming Xiao suspected that Sebastian was the kind of fool to play with fire without truly understanding the consequences.

Glancing over at the huge monster that was Sebastian’s Sheriff glaring back at her, Ming Xiao half wondered if she should shift out of her disguise or not. Damned if she did or damned if she didn’t. Ming Xiao could see the Sheriff’s piercing red eyes focus on her as she went back to her true form, his lips baring the hint of their sharp fangs. Ming Xiao merely lifted her chin at the monster and crossed her arms. She had heard the rumours and, from Sebastian himself, tales of how much of an incredible and ruthless killer the Sheriff was. Well, he wasn’t the only one that could be a ruthless killer, but tonight wasn’t about getting into a needless fight.

Seemingly sensing a change in the air, Sebastian spun around from the fireplace, frowning at her, his fangs on display when he roared, “What the hell are you doing here in my office?!?”

His body grew tense and guarded as she marched over to him. Ming Xiao smiled nonthreateningly at him, though that seemed to do little to ease the tension in Sebastian’s eyes. Did he really think she was here to kill him? How cute. “You said you’d be back in half an hour or so and yet, you’ve done nothing but keep me waiting and refused to answer my messages and it turns out all you’re doing is staring wistfully into your fireplace!” Ming Xiao said with a little unintended annoyance in her voice as she reached Sebastian, “What did you expect me to do?”

Sebastian’s jaw became hard set, his icy eyes darting to the door then back at her, “We can’t be having this discussion here in my office, the Fledgling could be back at any moment!” he said harshly, grabbing Ming Xiao’s arm and dragging her towards the double doors.

Ming Xiao tugged her arm out of his hold and grasped his lapels, pulling him close to her face, Sebastian’s expression was a mixture of panic and excitement. _Honestly, this man!_ “You are capable of leading me to where you want to take our discussion without manhandling me, Sebastian,” she chided him, letting go of his lapels and shoving him back.

Sebastian sheepishly looked away from her and gestured with his hand towards the doors, “My apologies. Please, follow me,” he said with slightly held back frustration in his tone.

“That’s better,” Ming Xiao replied sweetly and followed Sebastian through the doors.

Sebastian’s personal quarters were styled in a cosier and warmer version of the Napoleonic era, with yet another uncovered fireplace and plush armchairs and sofas. The walls were lined with shelves packed to the brim with centuries old books that no doubt Sebastian had yet to crack open. Ming Xiao seated herself on a nearby sofa as she waited for Sebastian to finish pouring himself a glass of blood and come and join her.

“The Fledgling had informed me that Nines Rodriguez was acting a little strangely when they had bumped into him outside of Grout’s mansion,” Sebastian started, his voice tinged with annoyance as he sat beside her. Ming Xiao managed to not show her panic at him bringing this up, she couldn’t afford to. He continued, his head cocked while looking at her sharply, “It was almost to the point they had wondered if Nines was under some sort of possession, with how he seemed dazed and oddly polite in how he spoke. They thought that Nines had been dominated or dementated into killing Grout and thus wasn’t truly responsible for his actions…”

Ming Xiao steeled herself, squaring her shoulders, “I can expl-” before she could finish her sentence Sebastian raised a finger at her, it seemed he had more to say.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already covered for your incompetence and the Primogen will still have no trouble demanding a blood hunt for Nines Rodriguez,” Sebastian stated harshly, taking a small sip of his blood before laying the glass down on the table, “It was my mistake, I let my excitement of ridding ourselves of Nines get the better of me and should’ve demanded a demonstration first before sending you on your way…” The insincerity in his voice made Ming Xiao almost lose her temper and show him that she wasn’t a woman to be mocked.

But she quickly took in a breath and leant closer to him, “Is that so? You seemed to be rather convinced when I ambushed you earlier while in his form, Sebastian…” Ming Xiao mused happily, remembering how confused and panicked he had been. “Must I do another demonstration again?” she asked, taking his glass and placing it down on the coffee table, to press herself against his body. A large part of her wanted to shift back into Nines’ form to have her way with Sebastian and of course, judging from his enthusiasm earlier, perhaps he would like it too…

Sebastian shook his head, “No, I don’t believe that’s necessary. You’re right, it was almost like you were his identical twin. But perhaps I made the mistake of thinking that you were prepared to be dealing with a Malkavian like Grout…” he said with a smirk, his hands roaming up her back.

“How do you mean? I managed to kill him rather easily!” she said defensively.

Sebastian chuckled cruelly, “Oh, I don’t doubt you managed to kill Grout,” he kissed up Ming Xiao’s neck to her ear and whispered, “but I do wonder if the reason you acted so strangely towards the Fledgling was due to Grout using his Dementation on you. It must’ve been quite the shock for you, as I imagine you don’t deal with a lot of Kindred with the ability to cause confusion and induce hallucinations…”

In anger, Ming Xiao reached down and gripped Sebastian’s crotch tightly. She regretted it instantly as he did nothing but gave her a pained laugh, “Oh Grout did, didn’t he? Tha-t-that…” Sebastian closed his eyes, a moan leaving his lips and his cock starting to harden under her grip, “That- explains a lot!”

“I don’t wish to talk about a pathetic creature that’s nothing but ash now!” Ming Xiao sternly stated, her fingers curling around Sebastian’s throat. Again his cock grew harder. How wonderful to learn that this Cainite under her was aroused by pain! “I am much more interested by your reactions to me hurting you. Despite being an all high and mighty Prince, you do seem to enjoy being dominated and punished…” she said seductively, her lips brushing lightly against Sebastian’s cheek.

Sebastian’s lips parted, making a soft groaning noise, his arms encircling her neck, “I-it must’ve been horrible for you to have your mind twisted so cruelly, I can’t even begin to imagine!” he panted, leaning into Ming Xiao’s rough hold on his crotch. “You must be in much need of comfort…”

Ming Xiao didn’t answer him, she would never reveal to Sebastian how much the experience had shaken her, to show such weakness wasn’t something she could handle right now. Instead Ming Xiao focused on pinning both of his hands above his head and unzipping his suit trousers. “W-we c-could take this to the bedroom, I have the tool you can use to take me!” Sebastian said, his voice desperate and needy, “You can do whatever you like with me, after the evening you’ve had tonight…”

It was interesting how quickly Sebastian was willing to submit to her, was it a way to appease her or perhaps he needed some stress relief as well? Ming Xiao placed a soft kiss on his lips, “You should be careful about speaking to me with such promises…” she said, climbing off Sebastian and following him to the bedroom.

Sebastian’s bedroom was decorated in the same style as the lounge, but with fewer bookcases and a huge king-sized bed with silky looking bedsheets. Sebastian rushed over to an elegantly carved wardrobe and pulled out a black leather case, placing it on the foot of the bed. He glanced Ming Xiao’s way with nervousness and anticipation on his face, motioning her over to him. With an amused raised eyebrow Ming Xiao came over to stand next to him, her fingers touching the clasps of the leather case. She watched Sebastian bite his lip as she undid the clasps and lifted the lid up, his eyes wide and excitable.

Looking down at what was inside, Ming Xiao couldn’t blame Sebastian for his excitement, the cock of the strap on was rather long and thick, probably at least around nine inches in length, “Sebastian, I know I did have a little roam around in your secret garden, but I doubt it was enough to-” she picked up the strap on, bringing the cock close to Sebastian’s face, “allow this monstrous thing inside…”

Sebastian’s lip quirked and his tongue briefly poked out before he quickly moved over to the nightstand and pulled out a small bottle of lubricant, presenting it to her with a proud smile on his face, “I believe this should be enough to help open me up!”

Ming Xiao giggled, taking the bottle from him, “If you’re sure, Sebastian.” She couldn’t help but smile at his heavy nodding. After removing her hairpins, she lifted up her dress over her head and, tossing it away, she strapped on the strap on and took hold of Sebastian’s chin, “Take off your clothes and kneel before me.”

He removed his clothes as fast as was possible and got down onto his knees. The way Sebastian looked up at her with complete submission in his eyes brought such an arousal to Ming Xiao, the desire to just take him right then and there was very strong. But no, she would make him plead and beg for it, just like earlier this evening. She stroked along the length of the cock with one hand and grabbed a fistful of Sebastian’s hair with the other, bringing his face closer.

Sebastian didn’t need much coaxing, as he happily, while looking straight up at her, took the head of the cock inside his mouth and suckled on it. Even though Ming Xiao couldn’t actually feel his mouth on her, the sight of Sebastian’s lips wrapped around the cock brought a heightened arousal. He took more of the cock in and gripped onto her thighs as she thrust inside his mouth. Ming Xiao tightened her grip on his hair, holding his head in place as she increased the pace of her thrusts, enjoying how Sebastian continued to look up at with her with a soft pleading in his eyes while palming his now leaking cock. Oh goodness, it was making her become rather wet now too!

She was half tempted to use her powers to change her genitals from a vagina to a cock and really know what it was like to have Sebastian’s mouth on her but she’d save that for another time…  
Right now, she’d have Sebastian use his mouth to pleasure her pussy instead. Ming Xiao pushed him back from the cock, the trail of saliva breaking apart and dripping down his chin. He panted heavily as she tugged him by the hair to make him stand up and shoved him face first on the bed. “Lay on your back, Sebastian, I want you to use that lovely mouth of yours on me first,” Ming Xiao purred, undoing the strap on, throwing it beside Sebastian on the bed and taking off her underwear.

He laid on his back, watching her as she climbed on top of him, straddling over his face. Sebastian’s hands grasped onto her hips and brought the tip of his tongue to her clit, its touch making her clit harder and more erect. Ming Xiao pushed herself down onto Sebastian’s face, grinding her clit against the contours of his nose and mouth, it felt so good, especially when he flicked out his tongue, licking around and in her entrance. She almost let out a scream when he suckled onto her clit hard and pushed two fingers inside. These two sensations combined to send overwhelming shivers of pleasure throughout her body. If he kept doing this, she’d come pretty soon.

Her thighs pressed together around the sides of Sebastian’s head as he continued his merciless pace of thrusting his fingers in all the right places and sucking onto her clit. “Yo-you-you have t-to stop it right now!” Ming Xiao said breathlessly, pushing his face away from her pussy and climbing off him, grabbing the strap on.

Sebastian sat up to watch her put the strap on back on with hunger in his eyes, licking his lips. With the strap on in place Ming Xiao turned to him and commanded, “Get on all fours, Sebastian.” He did so without hesitation, showing off his smooth back, firm muscled thighs and cute little buttocks. Ming Xiao picked up the bottle of lubricant, spreading some on her fingers. Holding onto Sebastian’s hip to keep him still, she inserted two fingers inside his hole, causing him to let out a sharp moan. It didn’t take her long to open him up nicely as she had already fingered his hole earlier this evening. And all the while he made the absolute most lovely cries and groans, such a lovely treat for her to behold.

Once Sebastian was fully open, Ming Xiao gently slipped her fingers out and slicked up the cock with some more lubricant. Sebastian looked over his shoulder, watching her and made a shuddering gasp as she slowly pushed the cock inside him, “You like it, Sebastian? It’s not too big for you is it?” Ming Xiao asked with a grin, pushing more of the cock inside his hole. He said nothing but moaned loudly, shaking his head fervently and started to stroke along his own cock. She chuckled, “Sebastian, if you keep pleasuring yourself, I’ll have you wear a chastity belt for the whole week.”

Sebastian glared at her but took his hand away from his cock. Yet his displeasure lasted only briefly as he was soon making desperate moans when she bottomed out and began a hard-thrusting pace. Ming Xiao knew that she didn’t need to be gentle with Sebastian and after all, she could tell he liked it rough from the way his hole tightened around the strap on cock as she thrust hard. As she fucked him, she dug her nails into his hip and grabbed Sebastian’s hair, forcing his head up. Some of the noises and words that were spilling from his lips were awfully tantalising to Ming Xiao’s ears. Sebastian probably thought that she had no knowledge of the French language and thus could freely say whatever he wanted without her knowing. Oh, how wrong he was! Oh, those wonderful pleadings of his, asking for her to fuck him harder, use him however she wanted, treat him like the slut he was! Hearing Sebastian say those things made her long for him to lick her clit again or to have him fuck her pussy.

Oh, he’ll get what he desires and more! Ming Xiao pushed Sebastian’s head down onto the sheets and pounded into him without mercy, reaching a hand to massage his testicles. “Oh, yes! Yes! Yes! Like that! I reall-really-” Sebastian muttered into the bedsheet mindlessly. Ming Xiao lightly squeezed his testicles, eliciting a low groan from him. “Oh, oh, that’s feels too-too goo-” Ming Xiao smiled to herself as she peered at his cock, seeing that it was now leaking an obscene amount of pre-cum.

“Oh, Sebastian, dear, are you close?” Ming Xiao asked coyly. She grinned again when he lifted his head, giving a shaky nod, “Well, I’m not and we can’t have you orgasming first. Lie on your back again.” He made a small whimper when she pulled the cock out of him. Sebastian turned himself to lay on his back as ordered, which allowed Ming Xiao to see the blood on his lips from biting them and that his cheeks were blushing red and how he wouldn’t look her in the eye. Well, she couldn’t have that.

Ming Xiao removed the strap on and straddled Sebastian, grabbing hold of his chin, forcing him to look at her, “Sebastian, please don’t look away from me,” she said with a mock pout, “I want you to look at me when you take me.”

Sebastian nodded, taking hold of her hips and guided her so his cock was just against her entrance. Ming Xiao held the head of his cock and pushed it inside her and sank down until she felt his pubic hair brush against hers. She let out a sigh from the fullness inside her and pulled herself up to nearly the tip before thrusting her hips back down again. Sebastian gasped and gripped onto her hips, thrusting fast and hard back. Ming Xiao squeezed herself around him as she pushed her hips back, the feel of his thrusts in time to hers was too good. She clawed her nails into his chest, springing little drops of blood that trailed down to his stomach, Sebastian must have liked that as his cries were growing hurried and needy.

“Oh my God! You ar-are so wet and squeezing me so tightly!” Sebastian cried, his thrusts getting rougher and faster, “A-are you close?” he asked, bringing his long fingers to rub her clit at a quick pace.

“Keep this up and I’-I’ll co-com-” Ming Xiao closed her eyes and pressed her lips together hard, pinching her nipple to add more to the unbearably sensual arousal that was coursing through her core. Sebastian suddenly sat up and sank his fangs into her throat, the pain soon subsiding, transmorphing into wonderful pleasure. It was almost too much… It was all-encompassing, the world around her blurring, nothing else mattered except the pleasure he was giving her through the bite.

Combined with the constant thrusts, the rubbing of her clit and the fangs in her throat, Ming Xiao came with a low shout. Feeling the orgasmic daze that had yet to lift, she pulled Sebastian’s face close to hers and captured his lips, kissing him passionately and endlessly. He came inside not long after with a cry and wrapped his arm around her, pulling them both to lay down on the bed. They softly kissed, locking their arms around each other in an embrace, time or the outside world barely mattering to them right now.

They both laid like this, holding each other in their arms, the post-orgasmic daze yet to lift and for Ming Xiao that was perfectly fine. Sebastian’s messed up hair and sleepy, adoring eyes were a lovely sight to behold. “I hope this time was enough to convince you…” he said, placing a kiss on her throat where he had bitten her, then licked away the bite marks.

She chuckled and traced along his collar bone, “Hmm… this time was rather enjoyable but I’m still not sure yet…”

Sebastian pushed a strand of hair out of Ming Xiao’s face and kissed her neck, “We’ll do it as many times as you want,” he said, kissing up along her neck to her jaw, “Although, you’ll have to let me have some blood first, before I can go again…”

“Even after you drank my blood? Don’t tell me you’ve used it to shoot inside me?” Ming Xiao giggled, almost close to breaking into laughter when Sebastian sheepishly glanced to one side, “Oh, Sebastian, don’t be so embarrassed!” she said, kissing him on the cheek, “You look too cute when you do!”

Ming Xiao laughed when Sebastian screwed up his face, “Cute?!?” he said in disbelief, “I’m not- oh, never mind,” Sebastian shook his head and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, his fingers lightly brushing her nipples. Ming Xiao sighed against Sebastian’s lips and ran her fingers through his hair.

They were interrupted by the sound of a loud ringtone, although this time not from Sebastian’s cellphone but rather her own. Ming Xiao made her quick apology to Sebastian and removed herself from his hold, climbing off the bed and reaching into a pocket of her dress to grab her cellphone and answer it. One of the Chang brothers was on the other end, “My thousand apologies, Mistress Xiao, but we have a problem.”

Ming Xiao sighed heavily, “I’ll be back at the Temple.” She hung up and began pulling on her clothes, turning to Sebastian, “I’m so sorry Sebastian, but I must go, something has come up.”

“Of course, I understand, and there’s much on my agenda I should be dealing with,” Sebastian nodded, getting off the bed and pulling his own clothes back on, “But next time you want to see me here, please call first.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” Ming Xiao replied with a pleased smile.

Ming Xiao arrived in the greeting chamber of the Temple of Golden Virtue, seeing both of the Chang brothers standing to attention. There was a little tension and trepidation in their eyes, as worried they should be, since she noticed there was a distinct lack of the Ankaran sarcophagus. Before she could even say a word, both the Chang Brothers bowed their heads in shame, “Mistress Xiao, please accept our humblest apologies for failing you but when we arrived at the Museum, the Ankaran sarcophagus was already taken!”

Ming Xiao sighed, at least it wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened tonight. Whoever stole the Ankaran sarcophagus wasn’t going to be able to get inside without the proper key, which she happened to have and wouldn’t give up so easily…


	6. Concerns Raised Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I'm sorry that two weeks had passed without an update! I had a few things going on writing-wise and hadn't felt like editing this chapter until recently.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

The incessant ticking of the grandfather clock was slowly driving Sebastian insane, to the point he was very close to just lifting the damned thing up and flinging it across the room, making it to break into tiny pieces so the ticking would cease. However, he remembered to keep his composure and did not act like a child throwing a tantrum. At the pinging sound coming from his laptop informing him that he had a new email, Sebastian stopped pacing around the room and went back to the desk in hopes that perhaps the Fledgling had an update on the retrieval of the Ankaran sarcophagus. He had checked it five minutes ago, but when Sebastian checked again there were still no new emails, well, aside from a spam email announcing in all caps **DON’T TOUCH THAT BUTTER!!!!!!** With his vampiric tastes the sender of that email could rest easy.

Sebastian quickly deleted the email, shutting his laptop with a loud groan. Ever since the Fledgling had returned from the Museum with the news that the sarcophagus had already been stolen, things had started to fall apart. Sebastian had hoped that once he announced the blood hunt on Nines Rodriguez it would spell the end of the Anarch Leader, but no, of course, it couldn’t be that simple, could it? It turned out that Nines had somehow already been informed about the upcoming announcement of his blood hunt and had gone into hiding, perhaps hopeful the whole thing would just blow over before making his return.

Sebastian’s agents had been dispatched two nights ago to root out where Rodriguez was hiding. The fact they weren’t finding any clues to Nines’ location was troubling Sebastian. He knew that if Nines wasn’t found and taken care of soon, things between him and Ming Xiao could become difficult. After all, she had gone through a lot of hardship to kill Grout and frame Nines Rodriguez for the murder, suffering temporary insanity caused by the Malkavian Primogen’s Dementation discipline. And while the last time they made love seemed to ease her mind, every time Sebastian spoke to Ming Xiao he was met with questions about Nines’ fate and her displeasure when being told ‘not yet’. A fear was growing in his gut that if he didn’t soon have Nines Rodriguez in his grasp and destroyed in the way that would please Ming Xiao the most, then she would take out her frustration on him.

Having the Ankaran sarcophagus in his grasp and diablerizing the sleeping ancient inside was supposed to alleviate those fears, however the theft of the sarcophagus had delayed his ascension into godhood and left him too vulnerable for comfort. Sebastian couldn’t help feeling his time as Prince of Los Angeles was running out, the pressure of the dread that permeated the city was growing alarmingly and threatening to suffocate him if he didn’t get his hands on the sarcophagus. Sebastian could now only hope that the Fledgling, who had been shown to be incredibly effective so far in all the missions he had thrown at them, would be able to bring back his prize.

Sebastian leaned back limply in his chair, the pressure getting to him, he needed something to take this stress off his shoulders. He had hoped to push aside the worries that plagued him by immersing himself in work, but the troubles lingered evermore in his mind. No, what Sebastian really needed was comfort, comfort of the most carnal in nature and the only one he wanted it from was a woman who both terrified and excited him at the same time. Again, Sebastian cursed himself for allowing and loving how Ming Xiao had taken control of him during the two times they had made love. Just when he thought he was gaining ground she always found a way to pull the rug out from under him.

And yet now he was almost desperate to see Ming Xiao again, if only to sink into her arms to escape the world around him. How weak and pathetic of him! And did he really think that Ming Xiao would be happy to give him the comfort he so desperately sought if he came by her temple tonight, after giving her yet more disappointing news of Nines Rodriguez still being at large? He very much doubted it. But even if Ming Xiao wasn’t in the mood to have sex with him, Sebastian still very much wanted to be in her company, seduction games aside. And it had been a few nights since their last casual meeting…

Sebastian had just started typing an email to Ming Xiao when his Sheriff, known only to him as Kamau, coughed loudly to get his attention. Sebastian whipped his head around, glaring at him for the interruption, “Yes, what is it?” he asked sharply, the impatience bubbling up to boiling point.

Kamau gave a low sigh and marched towards Sebastian’s desk, looming over him with his huge eight-foot frame. “Sebastian, we need to talk,” Kamau stated in a low voice, “perhaps it would be best to move somewhere more discrete?”

Sebastian crossed his arms, shooting a stern look his Sheriff’s way, “It depends, what is it that you wish to discuss with me?” He secretly hoped it had nothing to with do the person he was about to email, but from the way Kamau shook his head, his deep red eyes giving him a knowing glance, it couldn’t be anything else.

“You know very well what I wish to discuss with you, Sebastian,” Kamau pointed out, “Now come on, let’s take this to the lounge. Just listen to what I have to say,” he said with a gesture for Sebastian to follow him.

“Very well, but don’t think you can just give me orders in my domain! And make it quick, I have much on my agenda to do tonight!” Sebastian grumbled as he got up from his chair and followed Kamau out of the room.

The lie had been obvious and Sebastian’s Sheriff chuckled, “Of course, Sebastian, it won’t take long and then you can go back to begging for treats from her.”

Sebastian suppressed the urge to scream at Kamau’s complete disrespect towards him. In a way it was only fair, Kamau was right about him begging for comfort from Ming Xiao. The existence of that fact made Sebastian feel such deep shame.

After they both arrived in his private lounge Sebastian walked over to the bar and poured out for himself a glass of blood from a kine of his preference that had been intoxicated at the time of drawing. Since the conversation was going to be about Ming Xiao, it was as good a time as any to have a stiff drink. Kamau had made himself comfortable on the sofa when Sebastian joined him. He took a big sip of the blood, feeling the buzz of alcohol floating around in his head, dulling his brain to make it easier to take whatever reservations his Sheriff might have.

“Sebastian, I’ve become rather concerned about you of late,” Kamau started carefully, as he watched Sebastian take another large sip of his blood, “You haven’t been yourself since this whole business with the Ankaran sarcophagus and your dealings with Ming Xiao.”

Sebastian could feel a burst of bravado coming from the alcohol-laced blood seep into his voice as he said defensively, “Is that so? May I ask what you mean by that?”

Kamau reached over towards Sebastian, taking away his glass of blood and placing it on the coffee table, “What I mean is, that you’ve become increasingly obsessed with the sarcophagus at the expense of many important things and that includes your alliance with Ming Xiao.” His tone became more serious, “And what really concerns me about your alliance with Ming Xiao, is that you might not be as in control as you claim to be.”

Sebastian directed his gaze away from Kamau and onto a nearby bookshelf, clenching his jaw, his mind sobering. He kept silent, allowing Kamau to continue, “Three nights ago, Ming Xiao, disguised as one of your Ventrue agents, waltzed into your office and you only raised a token complaint before she scolded you like a misbehaving puppy!” Sebastian kept quiet, gritting his teeth at the insult. “Then, after she left, you told me that everything was in hand. Now, I really, really don’t see how you could be in control, with you whimpering when Ming Xiao gets upset with you over the fact Nines Rodriguez has yet to meet his final death and spending your time daydreaming about being with her! Sebastian, be honest with yourself, she has you in her clutches!”

“Not entirely!” Sebastian snapped back angrily, “She is much more infatuated with me than I am with her!” He reached over and snatched his glass off the coffee table, gulping down the rest of the blood, the buzz of alcohol returning much stronger than before. “Ming Xiao isn’t a concern you need to worry about! I can handle her!”

Kamau sighed, looking over at him doubtfully, “How old is Ming Xiao compared to you?”

Sebastian peered down at his glass, the answer to the question making him very uncomfortable, “I don’t know, Kamau, I’m not in the habit of asking a woman’s age-” He relented when Kamau’s eyebrow arched, “I do remember in our many conversations together Ming Xiao did mention to me that she received the Second Breath when Empress Wu Zetian was still in power…”

“And that would make her how old exactly?” Kamau questioned.

Sebastian swallowed as if the words were lodged in his throat. After that night when Ming Xiao had talked a little about herself, he had gone through his library until he’d found a world history book that gave him the answer. “Twelve hundred years older than me,” he spat out. The gulf of centuries between them was so incredibly immense that it both intrigued and frightened Sebastian. There was so much she must’ve learned in that time…

Kamau’s face became grave, “So Ming Xiao has many centuries of experience then. And you think she doesn’t know how to deal with a man such as yourself?”

Sebastian bristled at the statement, “She probably has only dealt with men of the Kuei-jin and mortals of her homeland! Ming Xiao has never had to deal with a man like me!” He realised too late that Kamau would see his defensiveness as the desperation of a man in way over his head. As hurtful to his pride as it was, he had to admit Ming Xiao ran circles around him at times, probably even when he thought the advantage was his. “And even so, it won’t matter when I get the sarcophagus in my grasp and diablerize the ancient inside,” Sebastian added.

“Yes, the sarcophagus…” Kamau repeated, his tone sounding disturbed, “I don’t like the idea of you trying to diablerize the Ancient, Sebastian, I think it would be better for you to destroy it instead.”

Sebastian could understand Kamau’s reasoning, he wouldn’t be alone in believing that was the best course of action. But Sebastian couldn’t, wouldn’t, even entertain the idea longer than a second, not when his position as Prince of Los Angeles was so precarious and fragile. Nines Rodriguez’s exile or death would only strengthen his domain so much when he was besieged with Elders that were waiting for him to screw up. The only way to secure LA truly was to gain power beyond his years. “I can overcome the Ancient inside, I’m strong enough! You know I’ve done it before!” Sebastian defiantly stated. It was true, after all, he had diablerized his sire, who had been hundreds of years older than him. When he had been merely twenty years into his unlife, he’d overcome that bastard trying to over take his body and won!

But even in pointing out that fact, the look of ill ease on Kamau’s face still didn’t subside, “But even so, Sebastian, I’ve been feeling this dread of an ill omen swimming around the city and I fear that even your strong wilfulness won’t be enough to overcome the Ancient. You could very well end up releasing them instead and cause havoc on the world.” The almost unheard-of fear in his Sheriff’s voice gave Sebastian pause, his brashness giving way to the doubt that he could be making things much worse than they needed to be.

Sebastian put his face in his hands. Perhaps Kamau was right about destroying the sarcophagus but yet, he’d never truly make Los Angeles his unless things changed. And the only way Sebastian could see to change things was to diablerize the Ancient for its power. Superstitions be damned, there was no other way! But was that really true?

Before Sebastian could think on it any further his cellphone buzzed briefly. Pulling it out he could see he’d been sent a text. He felt himself become strangely giddy upon reading it, despite his and Kamau’s discussion earlier. It had read, **_Please come to the Red Dragon restaurant tonight, I want to surprise you with something xxx M_**

Before Sebastian could even get the words out, Kamau let out a big sigh and got up from the sofa, “Well, I’ve said my piece. It’s up to you if you want to play on her leash tonight,” he said.


	7. Concerns Raised Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that it took me nearly a month to get this chapter edited, as other writing projects pushed ahead of the line! XD The next chapter will probably take a little longer as it is the longest chapter I've ever written for this fic, so I'm apologizing now.
> 
> Also, this I'm introducing some Kuei-jin OCs into this fic as I've always thought it was disappointing that Ming Xiao and the Chang Brothers were the only Kuei-jin (aside from the Cathayan you fight in Foxy Boxes) that you got to meet and thus doesn't give a clear picture of what the Kuei-jin are like or what they are doing in LA. Here's the link to the portraits I've done of them https://missn11.tumblr.com/post/612148470395076608/httpswwwdeviantartcomnk11artming-xiao-s-wu#notes Kalliyan from Clan Quest Mod gets a little mention in this chapter and I gotta warn you that since it’s from Ming Xiao’s point of view, it’s properly not the most flattering introduction. I recommend watching this video that Mod creator made of the quest that Kalliyan appears in for a better understanding of her character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zft5n_F-YaM

**A little Earlier that evening…**

Ming Xiao had just sent Wong Ho on his way after consulting him about the shootout outside Teng’s herbal shop two nights ago, in which the actions of the Tong had cost two people their lives, when Tai Jiang, one of the oldest of her Wu walked in the greeting room. Tai was a tall Chinese man with neat short black hair, dressed in a traditional plain dark green changshan and black trousers. He had a wry smile on his face and, knowing from experience the kind of sadistic bastard the Devil Tiger Tai Jiang was, Ming Xiao was aware that the next thing he’d say wouldn’t be to her liking. She steeled herself and addressed him coolly, “Yes, Jiang, is there something I can help you with?”

Ming Xiao kept her eyebrows from knitting together when Tai chuckled heartily to himself, “It’s not what you can help me with, that path has already been crossed and burned away.” Tai was referring to the suggestion he had made a couple weeks ago when she had been following Nines Rodriguez to fully enable her to become his twin. Tai’s suggestion had been the reckless idea that they should capture the hardened Anarch leader and he would use his mastery of the Soul Art, Obligation, to shackle Rodriguez’s soul to him and use him as a puppet to turn the Anarchs and the Camarilla against each other, inevitably causing a war. Whoever was to be the victor would then be cut away like a dead branch by the Kuei-jin. Tai’s plan did have merit but the reason Ming Xiao didn’t approve of it was that she felt that while Tai’s age and experience would overshadow Nines Rodriguez’s insignificant and short unlife, after observing the Anarch long enough, she had come to believe that the Cainite would have the willpower to resist the Devil Tiger’s power.

Not to mention she had noticed that Nines Rodriguez had an old, although not that old in comparison to her and Tai, and powerful ally in Smiling Jack. Sebastian had complained to Ming Xiao before in some of their meetings that the nearly four-hundred-year-old Cainite was a constant violent thorn in the Camarilla’s side. Smiling Jack had also been a worrisome threat for the Kuei-jin during the war between them and the Anarchs, a vicious Cainite who had personally brought many of Ming Xiao’s foot soldiers their final deaths, ripping them away from the salvation of fully mastering their Dharmas. Just the thought of those lost Kuei-jin brought forth painful emotions within Ming Xiao, threatening to make her lose her composure. However her Wu did not need her to break down and weep like a mother mourning her lost children, her Wu needed her to remain strong and lead them through this troubled time to victory.

As though sensing her darkening mood, Tai, still smiling, placed his hands on Ming Xiao’s shoulders in mocking comfort. The bastard, he was enjoying her misery! “Oh, Mistress Xiao, are you allowing your mind to travel back to the war? Is that what’s troubling you?” He leant close to her ear and whispered, “You really shouldn’t dwell on those losses, their painful deaths taught us a very important lesson, to not underestimate the Cainites.”

Ming Xiao took in a breath, if only to quell the urge to turn into her Demon form and strangle the bastard’s throat. Since Tai was a Devil Tiger, a lover of giving and receiving pain, she would just be granting him his desires. Years together in the same Wu had taught her much, there had even been a time in the early days when Tai and Ming Xiao had been lovers. Their romantic relationship had been fraught with constant sadistic agony and lovemaking. It had taken Ming Xiao far too long to realise that Tai’s never-ending causing her pain and heartbreak and her throwing it back at him in return was his way of imparting a lesson to her. Sometimes nothing is worth the constant misery if it never ends. After all, for Tai, cruelty wasn’t just a sick enjoyment on his path to becoming a demon but rather a means to impart lessons.

So she merely forced herself to smile at Tai and replied with, “Oh, but I can’t help it, Jiang, they were my charges after all. But you are right, it did teach us a valuable lesson in the end.” The comical pout Tai made, reminded Ming Xiao a little of Sebastian’s childish reactions to not getting what he wanted, however in her Kuei-jin’s case it was more playful theatrics.

Tai sighed, saying in pretend sulkiness, “Honesty, Mistress, you really do just suck all the joy from me. Can’t you just play along for a little bit…?”

Ming Xiao giggled, “No, no, I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that. But let’s get back to why you’ve come for me?”

Tai’s face went from sulking to grinning widely again, his dark brown eyes gleaming brightly, “Well, two things actually, one good and one bad. Which would you like to dig into first?”

“I’ll have the bad thing out of the way. What is it?” Ming Xiao asked flatly, hoping it wasn’t yet another delay in their plans. There was already a minor problem with a deal gone wrong for her Tong in the Downtown parking garage. It was obvious a Kindred was involved, the way they’d gotten in and out cleanly, killing both gangs present and stealing the package without any witnesses. It wasn’t something a normal human could do. The only problem was finding out who this Kindred was and their goal, a difficult task for her people. And with everything going on, ultimately it mattered little in the grand scheme of things.

Tai’s smile became wider and Ming Xiao swore his teeth became sharper and more feral, he did love to make those around him feel like they were a mouse trapped by a tiger, “Well, our loving Wu has some concerns they would really appreciate you listening to.”

Ming Xiao closed her eyes and hissed out a breath, it was worse than she had thought it would be. The last meeting she had with her Wu two weeks ago had ended in the younger members, notably ones of the The Dance of the Thrashing Dragon Dharma shouting disrespectfully at the eldest members, including herself, about the lack of progress in the conquest of Los Angeles for the Kuei-jin. The idea of enduring yet another tiresome meeting was birthing Ming Xiao a headache but as Ancestor to her Wu she would take this annoyance in her stride.

As Ming Xiao and Tai reached the garden, she counted only six of her Wu present. Excluding the Chang brothers, who were off locating the sarcophagus, there should’ve been seven here. She glanced over those attending the meeting. Most of the Kuei-Jin with Ming Xiao in Los Angeles hadn’t been a part of her original Wu, they had been assigned to her by the court. Some of the oldest members of her original Wu were still in China, believing this crusade in the Americas to be a waste of time and ultimately pointless. They didn’t believe the Sixth age could be stopped and saw it as part of the cycle. If they cease to be then so be it. Ming Xiao saw them as cowards, she would not lay down and wait for the end if it could be stopped. And it would be stopped!

Dong Zhao, who was over by the pond sprinkling some fish food, was a short stout man appearing to be in his fifties. He was of The Way Of The Resplendent Crane Dharma, just shy of a hundred years younger than Ming Xiao, and, much like her, understood the importance of respecting the old traditions and stopping the Sixth age. However, of late Ming Xiao was finding Dong becoming somewhat soft-hearted and melancholy, as well increasingly critical of her approach with the Anarchs, especially after the many losses of Crane foot solders under his command.

Standing next to Dong, watching the fishes feasting on the sprinkles, was Hui Tang, a deathly pale woman who looked to be in her late fifties. She was one of the younger members of the Wu, having received the Second Breath during the early years of the Cultural Revolution. She had committed suicide after ongoing horrific harassment from her Red Guard students. A passionate teacher and learner in life, it was only natural Hui would choose The Song Of The Shadow Dharma, nicknamed Bone Flowers, seekers of knowledge of the Middle Kingdom and the Land Of Spirits, the Jade Kingdom. Like most Bone Flowers, Hui’s manner was often cold and sometimes dispassionate but not the cruel stereotype of the Dharma. Hui had spent most of her time in the Jade Kingdom before returning to share the new knowledge she’d gained through reading and composing poetry. Thankfully, Hui hadn’t been one of Ming Xiao’s Wu that were overly critical of her methods, most probably due to her being more concerned with her studies and trusting her mistress to do what was best.

The same couldn’t be said for Heng Wen and Yong Li, two young men that had been passionate activists in life before being horribly killed. Heng Wen, who wore sunglasses, had been a journalist who greatly criticised the Chinese Communist Party during Mao‘s Hundred Flowers Campaign which had soon turned into a witch-hunt for enemies of the party. He had been beaten to death by fanatics. Yong Li, on the other hand, who had a nasty burn scar covering the bottom of the left side of his face and neck, had participated in the protest at Tiananmen Square before being shot to pieces by military enforcers. Having been cut down before their time, coupled with their willingness to question the restrictions of society, meant that Heng and Yong were drawn to the Dharma of the The Dance Of The Thrashing Dragon, in which the Kuei-jin are closer to the living and often the most shameless, lustful and violent of the lot. Thankfully though, Heng and Young were mostly lustful in their shamelessness and saved their violent tendencies for battle. Unsurprisingly they were usually Ming Xiao’s greatest critics, disagreeing with her decision to fund the Tong to help in their war against the Cainites, as well her alliance with Prince LaCroix, since they viewed him as a snake that couldn’t be trusted. As if she was completely unaware of that fact!

Funny enough the third Thrashing Dragon of her Wu, Kalliyan was noticeably absent from tonight’s little meeting. Unsurprising, as the last time Ming Xiao and Kalliyan had spoken the youngest Thrashing Dragon had shouted insults about her leadership and stamped off. Perhaps Kalliyan’s being late was some kind of childish protest or maybe she would not turn up at all and instead spend the night away at some wild orgy or whatever took her fancy. It would save Ming Xiao an additional headache if Kalliyan didn’t show up, this was going to be painful as it was.

The last member of Ming Xiao’s Wu was standing demurely under the nearest tree. Shufen Chen, at least that was her name for the moment, was a delicate and somber looking woman who was of The Path Of A Thousand Whispers, a Dharma that most Kuei-jin rarely had in their Wu as those who followed it often reinvented new identities for themselves before ritualistically killing the old identity to rebirth a new one. Ming Xiao only knew little bits and pieces about Shufen Chen, for one, it wasn’t her real name, but her birth and family name had become lost to time despite the short space since her Second Breath. Ming Xiao did know that Shufen had lost her life brutally during the occupation of Shanghai by the Japanese during the forties and there had been rumours she had been executed for being suspected as a spy of the resistance. Perhaps it was her life as a spy and the violence of her death that had brought Shufen towards the Thousand Whispers Dharma. Most Kuei-jin distrusted the followers of that Dharma due to their ever-changing identities, one minute they were a friend, the next a foe. It was for that reason Ming Xiao kept Shufen close to her side. However, up till the present, Shufen had always been extremely obedient towards Ming Xiao, a frighteningly vicious fighter who had constantly supported her in all things.

The attending members of Ming Xiao’s Wu turned their attention on her as she and Tai approached them, gathering round their leader. Ming Xiao made her expression calm but authoritative, awaiting the dreaded concerns and complaints her Wu would throw her way. “Jiang, has informed me that you all have some matters you wish to bring up with me. Please, my ears are open to you all.”

Heng placed a cigarette in his mouth with a chuff, “You aren’t even going to ask where Kalliyan is, Mistress?”

Ming Xiao lightly hummed, “Yes, that was the second thing I was about to ask you all. Where is Kalliyan?” She was lying and from the snide chuckles coming from Heng and Young, she hadn’t been believed. Not that it mattered.

“Well, she’s decided to skip tonight’s meeting, but left a message, I’ve written it down,” Heng lit up his cigarette before pulling out a folded piece of paper, “If you like, Mistress Xiao, I could read it for you and leave out all the disrespectful language-” Ming Xiao cut him short by snatching the paper out of his hand. Heng didn’t seem very bothered, in fact he looked pleased at her frustrated reaction.

Ming Xiao unfolded the paper and was greeted by the usual insults that Kalliyan often threw her way in both Mandarin and English, since one was unable to tell someone to go fuck themself in Mandarin, although you could tell them to go fuck their mother or father. Those words didn’t make her feel much aside from irritation, but what Kalliyan had written at the bottom of the note did cause Ming Xiao’s heart to halt for a second. **_Since you’re finally taking that stick out of your bitchy ass by fucking your Camarilla Prince Charming with it, I think I’ll go and find my own Cainite to party with! Sincerely fuck you, you hypocritical bitch, Kalliyan._**

Squashing the temptation to rip the paper into little tiny pieces, Ming Xiao, as calmly as possible, folded the offensive note and took in a breath, “I see Kalliyan is as mature as ever in her dealings,” she said, hoping the contents of the note wouldn’t get brought up by her Wu. However, by the shaking of Dong’s head, Shufen and Hui glancing away and the snickering coming from Heng and Yong, as well the widening sharp smile on Tai’s face, news of her sexual relations with Sebastian LaCroix wasn’t something to be let go of tonight. “Sometimes,” Ming Xiao started simply, “it’s necessary for us to indulge the desires of our potential allies, even at a small cost to ourselves.”

“Xiao,” Dong paused to sigh heavily, “Personally, your interspecies relations with the Cainite Prince aside, that’s not truly what I want to bring up to this meeting, in fact, that’s not what most of us are really concerned about.”

“And that is?” Ming Xiao asked, not entirely convinced from the looks she was receiving, that her Wu weren’t judging her for having sex with a Kindred.

Dong scratched his arm before he continued, “It’s about what we are doing to the mortals of Chinatown. Five years ago I really believed you when you said that funding the local Tong was only a temporary solution until the Anarch Cainites were dealt with and we could bring glory and pride to our people here in Los Angeles again.”

“By restoring the Temple of Golden Virtue and funding many businesses we’ve started doing exactly that,” Ming Xiao amended sharply, “Once all the Cainites of Los Angeles have been destroyed or flee the city we can began to dismantle the Tong into helpless pups.”

“And that’s supposed to make up for the fact we’ve made the people of Chinatown’s children into drug addicts or gunrunning thugs?!?” Heng cut in angrily, his cigarette dropping from his mouth, only for it to be caught by his fast reflexes, “Even if we honour the lives we ended by the Tong’s actions, it won’t mean a fucking thing to the living by the time we dismantle them!”

“How are we helping our people, when before we came into town, they’d already taken care of the old Tong by themselves? Even if we win against the Cainites, are we really going to make their lives better than if we were never here?” Yong questioned earnestly.

Ming Xiao shook her head, trying to keep her anger concerning their lack of faith in the cause out of her voice and instead making her tone more that of a distressed mother, worried for her lost children. It wasn’t something she needed to fake, for the people of Chinatown had been needing her guidance for so long, “And leave our charges to be victimised by the vile, barbaric Cainites? To not give them the gift of our wisdom? You think the Anarchs’ childish gangland games will make the lives of the people of Chinatown better than we can give them? That the oppression of the Eurocentric Camarilla will give them pride in themselves, in their culture? Or would they would feel safe with the monstrous Sabbat running around, enslaving them and turning the children of Chinatown into mindless shock troops?”

Hui, Tai and Shufen nodded in agreement with Ming Xiao’s impassioned statement. Heng looked down at the grass, blowing out a thin line of smoke, Young chewed the inside of his cheek, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions. Dong pressed his lips together before speaking up, “Xiao, I don’t believe we should abandon the people of Chinatown, but our dealings with the Tong must be stopped. Let us make peace with the Cainite factions and focus our energies on helping our people! Perhaps we can help the Cainites find peace in the knowledge of our ways!”

Ming Xiao felt her body shake with fury at Dong’s pleadings, how could he think there could be peace with the Cainites when they attacked almost on sight? No, they couldn’t be forgiving, especially with the Anarchs thinking they were responsible for their last leader, Jeremy McNeil’s supposed death at the battle of Signal Hill? The Camarilla, perhaps but not with Prince LaCroix in charge. Pleasurable relations aside, he wasn’t a man to be trusted. And she very much doubted the elders of his council would be any more open-minded or trustworthy. The Sabbat were nothing but blood-lustful, insane murderers and had to be destroyed at all costs. The Kindred were hopeless, doomed fools, they would be doing them a favour by wiping them out.

But the words to voice such a correct opinion got stuck in her throat. There was a niggling sense of doubt that perhaps Dong was right or that those of her old Wu were too, and she was only making things worse. By staying her course she would have to get rid of Sebastian one day, a ridiculous notion to be unhappy about, as he was likely planning to dispose of her when her usefulness to him ran out. And besides, he was only useful because of the power he wielded in the Camarilla and because he was a fun toy to play with. Toys, in the end, will break or get boring and have be thrown away.

Ming Xiao’s thoughts were interrupted by Hui’s cold, rational voice, “Zhao, your ideas of peace with the Cainites are naïve at best. I’ve travelled to the Jade Kingdom many times these past few years and the lost, wandering spirits of our fallen brethren and the fallen Cainites cry out for bloody vengeance. They won’t be swayed by any false hopes of peace. Only our victory or defeat will bring peace to the dead.”

Tai walked over to Hui’s side, “Tang’s right, we’ve started this war and the Cainites have yet to learn that our might and wisdom will ultimately win out. It’s better if we destroy them so they will learn better in their next cycle than let them languish in their weakness until withering away!”

Shufen piped in weakly, “I trust Mistress Xiao’s wisdom, the Cainites cannot protect their own people, how can we expect them to defend ours?”

Outnumbered in the Wu and having holes poked in their beliefs, Dong, Heng and Yong glanced at each other in silence, their expressions despondent before they finally muttered their apologies and bowed humbly to Ming Xiao. Ming Xiao kept her lips still even though she wanted to smile at their submission to her wisdom. Gloating would only bring resentment and newfound stubbornness in their previous belief.

Just as Ming Xiao was about to call the meeting to a close, Heng spoke up, his tone sounding weary and tired, “Mistress Xiao, when we win, we will make things in Los Angeles better, won’t we? There’s so much suffering and homelessness on the streets and not just in Chinatown. I came to America to make things better than we could in China. I don’t want to lose sight of that goal.”

Ming Xiao nodded, “Don’t worry, Wen, our purpose is foremost to bring positive change to the West and eliminating the Cainites that are only content with profiting from their mortals’ suffering is one of the many but important steps towards it.”

Once the meeting was over and Ming Xiao’s Wu went about their business, she had been about to return to the greeting room when the slight, delicate voice of Shufen called out to her, “Mistress Xiao, I have something I need to tell you.”

Ming Xiao, feeling tense, turned to face Shufen with a forced smile, “Yes, Chen, what is it?”

Shufen fidgeted with her fingers and stared down at her shoes, “I feel the nearing of the end of my life and soon I’ll have to die and become reborn anew.”

Ming Xiao quietly swallowed, keeping her voice steady, “I see and how much longer will we have you for?” At this time she couldn’t afford to lose a valuable fighter nor an obedient servant, not when the chance to finally claim Los Angeles for the Kuei-jin was so close.

Shufen lifted her head, her deep, rich brown eyes holding more command than Ming Xiao had seen before from the meek mannered woman, “After we fight against the Cainites again, I will die and be reborn. It will be sooner than you think Mistress Xiao, I can feel it in the air, this city won’t rest until only one claims victory over it.”

A chill ran down Ming Xiao’s spine. Perhaps it wasn’t the city waiting for one faction to have total victory that Shufen felt but rather the Ancient sleeping in the Ankaran sarcophagus. If it awoke, it could be the reason for the Sixth age to start. She couldn’t let any of the foolish Cainites get their hands on it. Ming Xiao could only hope that the Chang Brothers would be able to recover the sarcophagus before anyone else. “I see,” she replied with a nod, “thank you for bringing this up to me, Chen.” Shufen’s eyes became softer and docile again as she bowed before leaving Ming Xiao alone.

Finally alone in the greeting room, Ming Xiao let out a breath. Tonight’s meeting, Kalliyan’s rebelling, Shufen’s upcoming death and rebirth and, of course, the sarcophagus lost somewhere, a danger to everyone, was taking it’s toll on her. She needed something to take her away from it all and it was a good thing that Sebastian was her willing toy to distract her.

Ming Xiao pulled out her cellphone and typed a quick text to Sebastian. What surprise she had in store for him was something she would find out for herself.


	8. Undeniable Feelings

Sebastian tapped his fingers impatiently on the table, his eyes staring endlessly across the Red Dragon dining-room as he waited for Ming Xiao to make her appearance. The desperation and longing for Ming Xiao he was feeling was reminding him of Kamau’s allusion to him being a dog on her leash, begging for treats. The truth of that statement had scorched Sebastian’s pride terribly yet here he was, sitting alone at his table in this restaurant, waiting for Ming Xiao to come with her ‘surprise’.

Sebastian sighed. Bored of attempting the equivalent of staring at the kettle to make it boil, he moved his gaze to the kine couple two tables away from him. The couple in question appeared, from the slight wrinkles around their eyes and the few strands of grey hairs to be middle-aged. There was a world-weariness in their demeanour and the way they were discussing politics and their concerns for the future, that was often familiar to Sebastian’s ears. It was unsurprising to him, as he had seen in his long existence that the uncertainty of the present time was only clear in hindsight, the path only obvious to future historians that looked back in retrospect. Even so despite these worries, there was a real affection between them and a reassurance that whatever might come they’d endure it together. Sebastian got the impression this wasn’t the first time this couple had endured difficult times. A feeling of envy and a tightening in his chest caught him off guard. He tried to shake these odd feelings away as fast as possible but even then a scrap of them lingered on.

Ridiculous! Why would he be so envious of this kine couple? They were only thinking of surviving not taking action as he was! By getting the sarcophagus and diablerizing the Ancient inside, he’d never have to worry whether he’d be able to endure anything, all threats in his way would fall either in line or by the wayside! Sebastian grinned almost madly to himself at the thought of making everyone who had dared to cross him or make him out to be the fool finally admit defeat. Who knows, maybe Nines Rodriguez might still have the chance to live to see his ascension and finally bend the knee to him? Although Sebastian knew that was perhaps a bit too fantastical, he imagined the Anarch would rather die trying to stop him than admit true sovereignty. Oh well, it really didn’t matter.

 _But what will happen to Ming Xiao? Will she really ever accept you as a worthy being? Is having true power enough for her to see you as her equal?_ Traitorous wonderings suddenly popped into his head, try as he might to shake them away, the questions clinging on tightly. Sebastian gritted his teeth and snatched his eyes away from the couple to instead look down at the glass of water in his hands. Kamau was right about one thing, with the overwhelming centuries Ming Xiao had lived through compared to his measly nearly two hundred years of experience, they were far from equals. Though a part of Sebastian was fascinated and eager to learn what she had learned over the centuries, another was all too aware of the power imbalances between them. He was anything to Ming Xiao but her equal and the fear that even after ascending he never would be, stuck heavily in his gut.

But yet, a part of Sebastian was thrilled by those power imbalances, especially during lovemaking. The desert of never-ending problems he had to carry every night melted away when he was with Ming Xiao. And he imagined that even though she was in a dominating role it had the same effect on her, having to deal with only one, easily solved, pleasurable problem. However, he couldn’t allow these imbalances in their relationship to seep out of the bedroom, though it might be too late and the sarcophagus was the only answer. Again, the question was, would Ming Xiao be willing to view him as a equal or superior once he gained true power? The answer ‘no’ filled Sebastian with anxiety. It was more likely she’d only pretend to him that he was her equal to better use him to further her own ends.

But were their goals that different? From what Sebastian had heard of the supposed goal of the Kuei-jin being in America and from the little Ming Xiao had told him about Kuei-jin culture, she was here to prevent the Age of Sorrow, something which sounded like the Kuei-jin’s version of Gehenna, and to bring balance to both the West and the East, most likely through culling the Kindred population. However, much like in Kindred society, it seemed that not everyone was in agreement with that plan and apparently there were some elders or rather, Bodhisattvas Ming Xiao had called them, who felt that the Age of Sorrow was a natural part of the cycle and no matter what, couldn’t be stopped. Such defeatist thinking had disgusted Sebastian and, judging from how Ming Xiao would talk about them with venom in her normally lovely voice, she felt the same way. Then perhaps there was a possibility of a happy medium between them, after all they both wanted to right this world, bring it under their much needed rule and with him diablerizing the Ancient he’d have the ability to do exactly that. Of course there was the question of what Ming Xiao’s ideas for making the world right were and whether they would line up with his. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, thinking about building an empire when Los Angeles hadn’t truly become his yet and Sebastian got the feeling if he ever brought up the possibility to Ming Xiao of making the world theirs, she would point out this fact.

He took in a breath, calming himself down, the agonising wait for the sarcophagus and Ming Xiao was starting to drive him mad. Sebastian knew he had to control himself before he started to suffer from delusions of grandeur!

Thankfully, the familiar clicking of heels walking towards his table took Sebastian away from his troubled thoughts. He lifted his head to see Ming Xiao, dressed elegantly as always, clutching a book to her bosom. The book in question was by Eileen Chang and titled **Lust, Caution**. Ming Xiao smiled at his confused expression and laid the book down in front of him, “I see you’ve noticed my surprise, I hope it’s not disappointing, but I was in the bookstore and saw this and thought of you,” she explained, taking a seat right next to Sebastian, the warmth of her shoulder and leg brushing against his was comforting.

Warming the blood in his veins so as not to give Ming Xiao discomfort, Sebastian lifted up the book and turned it, glancing at the back, finding out the title **Lust, Caution** wasn’t just the title of the book but also the first story in a collection of short stories set in 1930s and 1940s Shanghai. He leaned over to her and whispered, “But why? I never visited Shanghai nor China during those decades.”

Ming Xiao’s warm hand slipped the book out of his hands, “Really? I would’ve thought, you being such a world traveller, you would’ve at some point been to China or at the very least visited Shanghai. Back in those days it was quite the cosmopolitan city, much how Hong Kong is now. I think you would’ve liked Shanghai back then.”

“I probably would have liked to have seen Shanghai back then or Hong Kong if I still had the mindset of my youthful wanderlust days,” Sebastian said wistfully, smiling to himself, a part of him really did want to go back to those days. Travelling around Northern and Eastern Africa hadn’t been enough to satisfy his curiosity and Sebastian wished in many ways that he hadn’t been so hasty in returning to Europe to elevate his position in the Camarilla. Again, where had it gotten him? Perhaps if he’d travelled to China, he could’ve met Ming Xiao much sooner and truly seen Shanghai when it was at it’s most cosmopolitan. But he couldn’t weigh himself down in maybes and what-ifs. He realised his mind was only drifting towards nostalgia because of the uncertainty of his future as Prince.

He pushed the thoughts away and took Ming Xiao’s hand in his, his thumb caressing her knuckles, “But surely, Shanghai is a still a wonder to behold even now?”

Ming Xiao’s jade green eyes became filled with sadness, “It was, when I last visited five years ago before coming to Los Angeles. Beijing is also a city I miss dearly despite the troubles of the court there and there are so many little villages and provinces that I-” Sebastian just caught a glimpse of a tiny little tear drop slowly run down her face before she quickly turned away from him.

Sebastian tried to apologise but she waved him off, refusing to look at him. Realising she didn’t want his comfort, he waited in silence and politely shooed off the waiter who had come by their table. Eventually, after a few moments had passed, Ming Xiao regained her composure and turned back to him with a smile, “My apologises, Sebastian, I didn’t expect talking about my homeland to affect me that much.”

“I understand, Ming, there are times I miss France immensely,” he confided, but there was something in Ming Xiao’s eyes that held doubt, as though questioning if that was truly the case.

“Do you really? I’ve never heard you talk about visiting your birthplace, Calais,” her eyes grew harsh as she spoke, sounding like she was cross-examining him, “When was the last time you ever went to France? Because I’ve never been this far from home for this long.”

Sebastian bristled, feeling annoyed at her daring to question him and making it into a competition of who missed their homeland the most. He didn’t appreciate being her little verbal punching bag for whatever truly bothered her. But yet, he didn’t miss France nearly as much as Ming Xiao obviously did miss China, at least not to being on the brink of tears. “The last time I went to France was ten years ago, it wasn’t even for pleasure but business and the last time I was in Calais was twelve years ago.” Sebastian answered, feelings of sadness and bitter disappointment from the memories of those two trips resurfacing.

He half wondered if it showed on his face, as Ming Xiao’s eyes softened and she brought her warm fingers up to trace his jawline, “Why don’t you visit your birthplace more often? Is it too painful for you to go there?”

“It’s not painful, just it’s changed so much, I feel almost nothing when I go there,” he admitted, even though he shouldn’t. “When I was younger, I used to ache longingly to visit Calais again, to see my family, friends. By the time I was even allowed to visit there again they were mostly dead.” Painful memories resurfaced of his pathetic misery of having so much taken from him by becoming a Kindred. He longed to push them down. It wasn’t the fact he had become one of the damned that had upset Sebastian at the time, rather he had loved the power this new life had given him but the idea of leaving his loved ones behind. He had been so naïve and unable to understand why he, a powerful creature couldn’t do as he wished. “I did spend so much time there, laying flowers on their graves, mourning them pathetically,” he breathed out a sigh and continued, “but shortly, I realised that my mourning would do nothing but waste time in my new infinite existence. Though in the process after my travels, once I returned to France I found it changed so much from what I knew that I no longer considered it my home anymore.”

Ming Xiao leaned close to him, placing her hand on his chest over his heart. With the blood in his veins warmed, his heart skipped a few beats. “Is that what you’re looking for in Los Angeles, a home?”

He nearly wanted to laugh at the silly idea, but instead Sebastian pressed his lips together thoughtfully. Once the sarcophagus was his, anywhere in the whole world would be his home. Then again, maybe Los Angeles would be enough. “Perhaps,” he muttered thoughtfully and wrapped an arm around Ming Xiao’s shoulders, pulling her close, “If everything goes well, it could be our new home.” Ming Xiao’s musical laughter filled his ears, Sebastian braced himself for her to point out how cheesy he had sounded, maybe accuse him of taking a line from some old Hollywood film in which everything worked out in the end and the hero and heroine lived happily ever after. God, what was wrong with him?

“Oh, Sebastian, you do surprise me by how you sometimes say the most endearing things,” Ming Xiao said with a smirk before pressing a kiss on his cheek. It annoyed him that the warmed blood in his veins was making him blush. “Also, it’s so adorable when you blush, and because of that I was thinking of giving you another surprise,” she kissed him again, this time on his nose.

Sebastian chuckled, “Yes? And what is that?”

“Since I’ve been in your personal bedroom, it’s only right you come to mine,” Ming Xiao smirked again at his wide eyes, “Oh, don’t worry about it, my Wu already know about our little affair and have accepted it.”

That was surprising to hear, but at least he wouldn’t have to go skulking around with her to avoid unwanted attention from Ming Xiao’s people. Even so, it was strange she had never mentioned this little detail before. And the added fact Sebastian hadn’t brought Kamau with him tonight, made him feel a little uneasy about going straight into the lair of the Kuei-jin, after all it could be a trap. But he didn’t think she wanted to get rid of him just yet. “I see, that’s good your Wu have been more accepting of me,” said Sebastian, although he suspected he was merely tolerated rather than accepted by Ming Xiao’s Wu.

“Of course, they know my judgment is strong and true. But don’t get too excited, Sebastian,” Ming Xiao held up the book again, “I just wanted to be in a more private place to read this to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, after over two months, I've finally updated this story! I'm so sorry about that but rest assured the next chapter is coming pretty soon, to make up for the wait. I've had some trouble with this story, having to scrap two chapters because they simply didn't work and being generally distracted with writing, editing, and posting other stories! XD But I'm feeling like I have some new drive for this one and hope to bring you more chapters regularly. (but don't hold me to that too much XD) 
> 
> And to warn you guys, in the next chapter there are spoilers for the Eileen Chang short story: Lust, Caution, so I would recommend you either read the novella (This I highly recommend) or accept that you will get spoiled on the novella's plot.


	9. Book Club of Lust and Caution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains spoilers for the Eileen Chang short story: Lust, Caution, so I would recommend you either read the novella before reading this chapter (This I highly recommend) or accept that you will get spoiled on the novella's plot. 
> 
> Many big thanks for yeyintingz https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeyintingz/pseuds/yeyintingz for being such a huge help with this chapter! Thank you so much for the help and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

The Kuei-jin temple was much grander than Sebastian had expected despite its smaller size in comparison to the old temples back in China. Passing the patrolling watchful guards in the courtyard reminded him that he was following Ming Xiao into the heart of her domain completely alone. Again, Kamau was right about her having much more control over him than he did over her, it had simply slipped his mind to call for his Sheriff or a Hound.

But it was too late now and so Sebastian maintained a stiff upper lip, even as they walked down the stairs into the narrow hallways where more Kuei-jin guards paid special attention to him as though he were an intruder. One passing, casually dressed Kuei-jin man was wearing such dark sunglasses that Sebastian couldn’t see his eyes but felt them on him all the same, his snarling expression gave away his true feelings. However, one sharp look from Ming Xiao and the Kuei-jin quickly dropped his snarl and made himself scarce with his tail between his legs.

“My apologies for his disrespectful behaviour, Sebastian, I’m afraid that Heng Wen does not approve of our close relationship, he rather believes you to be a snake,” Ming Xiao said apologetically.

 _I don’t doubt he’s the only one here to think so,_ Sebastian thought to himself. “There’s no need to apologise, Ming, after all, it’s so good you have such protective people, only thinking of your best interest.”

A dark shadow passing through Ming Xiao’s jade green eyes and the brief downturned quirk of her lips gave Sebastian pause. Perhaps not all was well with Ming Xiao’s Wu and she was having problems with them, all too likely due to her alliance and close relationship with him. A possibility that could be exploited but Sebastian very much doubted he himself could take the opportunity without arousing suspicion from Ming Xiao or her Wu. Something to be filed away for future reference then.

The smile Ming Xiao gave him had the edge of being a little bit forced, “Yes, it is good to have such a protective Wu. But is that something you Kindred lack? Dependable friends that would die to protect you or fight with you to the death?”

It was Sebastian’s turn to falsely smile at her. “It depends, as I’m sure it’s the same for you. There are some people who claim to be such loyal friends to you but when the going gets tough they abandon you to your fate…” he paused for a moment, watching Ming Xiao for any change in her expression. Sadly, unlike before, her face had become unreadable, “But, those sorts of fools get what they deserve in the end and I’m lucky right now, like yourself, to have such loyal people under my command.”

The corner of Ming Xiao’s lips turned up slightly, “I’m glad to hear it, Sebastian. I’ve often heard during my little investigation of Nines Rodriguez that you’re not the most popular of Kindred in the Camarilla and that most would stab you in the back at the mere whiff of incompetence on your part. I’m glad to see it was nothing but nonsensical, jealous ramblings from the childish Anarchs.” Despite the pleasantness in Ming Xiao’s voice there was a faint hint of snideness in her tone, something he was all too familiar with when dealing with the two-faced members of the Camarilla, notably Harpy Toreadors.

Sebastian made himself keep smiling at her, “Well, when I mean I have such loyal people under my command, I mean the closest of my inner circle. I’m afraid that there are those in the Camarilla that would happily stab me in the back the moment I make a grave mistake, such is the way of the Jyhad.” It made him a little sick to admit this truth but if he tried to keep up appearances with her, she’d just underhandedly mock him more.

“Oh, Sebastian,” Ming Xiao placed a hand over her heart, her tone sympathetic, though he didn’t truly believe she actually felt such empathy for him, “It must be so terrible for you to have to deal with the backstabbing, ungrateful fools of your domain. I mean, the childish gangland games of the Anarchs and the frightful murdering monsters of the Sabbat are bad enough! But I had no idea it was this bad for you, what an awful existence you Cainites live!”

Sebastian wanted to laugh and call her out for her mock sympathy, yet she wasn’t wrong for pointing out how terrible his life had become. It made him somewhat angry to be reminded of that fact, when he’d come here to forget all of that but he merely pressed his lips together and said, “Yes, it is at times awful to deal with, but hopefully with your help it won’t be that awful shortly after the Sabbat and Anarchs have been dealt with.”

“And it sounds like the Camarilla could use a good purging, to rid your sect of useless backstabbing fools,” Ming Xiao said with a chuckle.

_God don’t tempt me._

Ming Xiao’s bedroom was elegantly decorated, having red walls panelled with dark brown mahogany, a large bed with red sheets, a detailed canopy with near translucent drapes, an antique looking Chinese armchair with a red and gold cushion, a vanity table and a beautifully painted modesty screen.

“Please make yourself comfortable. I hope you don’t mind if I change out of this dress, it has been a long day for me.” Ming Xiao’s voice was a little weary sounding as she laid the book on the bed.

“Of course not, I would hate for you to be uncomfortable, Ming,” Sebastian replied and Ming Xiao grinned at him before strutting behind the modesty screen. He turned away, closing the door and removed his shoes, placing them near the door, then took off his jacket and laid it neatly on the armchair. Sebastian went over to the bed and pushed aside the translucent curtain and sat down on the soft mattress. He reached over to grab the book and flick through to the first page of the first short story, **_Lust, Caution_**.

However, Sebastian found himself unable to read it, as it was completely written in Chinese, and as he had only just started learning both Mandarin and Cantonese, he only recognised a few words. Sebastian was about to slam the book shut when Ming Xiao reappeared from behind the modesty screen with her long hair down and dressed in a plain red silk robe. “I see you’ve already started reading it, do you not want me to read to you after all?” she asked, pushing the curtain back and climbing onto the bed.

Sebastian closed the book and handed it over to Ming Xiao, “Actually, I would like you to still read it to me, I’m afraid I’ll make a horrible mess of the pronunciations and it would help for you to explain some things to me. I’m sadly rather ignorant about Chinese culture.”

Ming Xiao’s eyes widened in surprise at his statement, as though she never would’ve expected for him to admit any lack of knowledge. In a way he surprised himself for being so truthful about his shortcomings to her. But she soon recovered and gave him a soft smile, it was the prettiest and kindest he had ever seen and he felt something akin to being touched to bear witness to it. “Well, then, come sit next to me and I’ll begin.” Sebastian brought himself closer to Ming Xiao, his shoulder brushing against hers and watched her crack the book open.

Sebastian found himself captivated by her voice as Ming Xiao read the incredibly detailed descriptions of the opening scene of the main character, Jiazhi playing mahjong with Mrs Yi and Mrs Ma. The descriptions of the clothes and jewellery they wore were impressive, as were the details of how the political situation of the occupation of Shanghai by the Japanese affected the supply and price of luxuries. It was so easy to picture the whole scene in his mind, like a film playing out before him, especially since Ming Xiao, using her powers, did the different voices of the characters, each one perfect and exactly how he would have imagined.

Mrs Yi and Mrs Ma reminded Sebastian a little too much of certain annoying, two-faced Kindred he had met in his time, talking all lovely and sweet to your face to get what they wanted from you, and then, once your back was turned, talking badly about you and scheming to backstab you. It couldn’t be helped, in the Camarilla you had to deal with such annoyances.

The plot thickened when it turned out that Jiazhi, or rather her true identity, Chia-chi , was really a young former actress and drama student, part of an acting troupe that had joined a radical Cantonese student group. They were taking on a ridiculously dangerous mission that was far beyond their capabilities, to disrupt the Wang Jinwei regime by leading Mr Yi, Mrs Yi’s husband, into an assassin’s bullet. Mr Yi was a co-collaborator of Wang Jingwei who was negotiating and collaborating with the invading Japanese forces to form a government in China. Chia-chi would accomplish her mission by attracting Mr Yi’s attention and start an secret affair with him and then lure him to a location where her student conspirators could assassinate him.

However, that it was doomed to failure, Sebastian could already guess. Not only was this student radical group hopelessly inexperienced - even the Anarchs were better prepared then these youngsters were which was what made them so frustrating to deal with - but the idiotic group were stupid enough to start to shunning Chia-chi when she was learning to become a seductress. For goodness sake, did they want Mr Yi assassinated or not? How else was she supposed to lure her target into a assassin’s bullet? Ask nicely? The other problem was that Chia-chi had convinced herself that she was in fact in love with her target, no doubt due to the pressure and loneliness of her situation, and thanks to how hopelessly untrained she was in espionage.

But before Sebastian could find out if he was right there was a knock on the door and Ming Xiao slammed the book shut and quickly climbed off the bed. She opened the door a crack and spoke in Chinese to a unseen man with a strong, commanding, cheerful sounding voice. Although he could not understand what they were saying, he did however notice the tone of shortness in Ming Xiao’s voice as she was speaking to the man, who seemed amused by it. Ming Xiao’s voice soon changed to a much more pleased sounding tone after the man said something pointedly and she finished the conversation with a grin as she closed the door behind her.

“Good news, I hope?” Sebastian didn’t miss the darkening glitter of Ming Xiao’s eyes as she climbed back into bed with him.

“Yes, but nothing you need to be concerned about,” Ming Xiao answered lightly. The feeling of unease stuck heavily in his gut as she picked up the book again and flicked through the pages to where they had left off.

Sebastian lazily kissed along Ming Xiao’s throat, at the same time parting her silk robe, uncovering her breasts. Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly when he suckled onto the centre of her throat, her fingers running through his hair. The soft sighs coming from Ming Xiao’s lips were a balm to Sebastian’s wound up mind, as he kissed and licked down to her chest, his hands massaging her breasts.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sebastian saw the book being unconsciously pushed by Ming Xiao’s outstretched hand towards the edge of the bed until it fell onto to the floor with a thud. She reflexively pulled away from him to reach for the fallen book. Truthfully, Sebastian would’ve told Ming Xiao to forget the accursed thing and just relax into his arms, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate that. He knew he was right when he saw Ming Xiao lift up the book and smoothed over the corner with her fingers, muttering to herself how lucky it hadn’t gotten any dents despite the fall.

And to be honest, calling a perfectly normal book accursed was being overly dramatic of him, after all they had only read one story from the little collection. But all the same the first short story seemed to have had an unpleasant effect on Sebastian, despite the fact he had been proven right about how hopeless Chia-chi’s attempt to lead Mr Yi into an assassin’s bullet would be. The silly young woman had actually believed she was in love with her target and he with her! The most surprising thing to Sebastian had been that Mr Yi had no idea that Chia-chi was a honey trap the whole time and had also fooled himself that he was truly in love with her, though not enough to save her, at least the idiot had some sense of self-preservation. Although the way Mr Yi talked about owning Chia-chi’s ghost brought forth in Sebastian a feeling of disturbance and disgust that lingered long after Ming Xiao had finished reading. Maybe it was the sudden dark tone Ming Xiao had given Mr Yi’s voice during that little monologue about owning Chia-chi even in death that had set it whirling around in his mind. It made Sebastian wonder if perhaps she had been an actor before her second breath, he had never thought to ask.

Although he doubted that was truly the real reason for this tension swimming in his mind, that made him want to drown himself into Ming Xiao to forget everything. That good news she had received but wouldn’t tell him, didn’t sit right with Sebastian, did she really think he would be convinced it was nothing of interest to him? Earlier, he had tried to coax it out of her before Ming Xiao had continued reading the story but she had verbally sidestepped his question. Since she had been so insistent on finishing the story, Sebastian had forced himself to suppress his curiosity rather than cause trouble. The suspicion that the good news Ming Xiao had received was not merely something trivial but something she really didn’t want him to know about, made him question if he really did want to share Los Angeles or more with her after all, if all the time she was plotting his downfall behind his back.

 _Then again, can I really condemn her, since I’m willing to do the same_? No, but it did mean he needed a plan to deal with Ming Xiao if it turned out she was plotting her betrayal of him. But maybe it was already too late and the unseen man who had talked to Ming Xiao earlier had been informing her of the preparations for his capture or execution, probably not believing their luck for the Prince of the Camarilla to be stupid enough to wander into the heart of enemy territory without a single guard nor weapon!

However, if that was the case then Ming Xiao was taking her sweet time in springing the revelation of her betrayal onto Sebastian or perhaps she was merely giving a doomed man one final taste of pleasure before bringing him his final death.

Before his panic inducing train of thought could go any further, Ming Xiao’s concerned sounding voice brought him out of his head, “Sebastian? You’re looking particularly thoughtful tonight, is there something on your mind?” Sebastian lifted his gaze to Ming Xiao and shook his head, but she wasn’t convinced and repeated her question to him more sternly the second time.

Sebastian sighed and laid his head onto the pile of pillows behind him, “I don’t know.” It was so strange to hear how lost his voice sounded, this wasn’t a voice of a leader but rather a confused boy. “I don’t know, I just feel so overwhelmed, I’ve had to deal with som-” he quickly stopped himself from revealing the true reasons these nights had become hard of late, “It’s nothing really, just the usual tiresome nonsense I have to deal with.”

Ming Xiao laid down next to him, her face inches away from his, brushing with the back of her hand against his cheek, “Is that so? It must be something particularly awful to deal with, otherwise you wouldn’t have been so lost in your thoughts when the book fell off the bed.” When Sebastian didn’t reply, instead simply chewing on the inside of his mouth, Ming Xiao’s brow turned downwards, “Was there something in the story that troubled you, Sebastian?”

“No,” Sebastian flatly stated and turned away from her, unable and unwilling to even discuss the short story, at least not with her. There was a vulnerability in admitting that it disturbed him, how he related to too much of the story despite the cultural differences. But the feelings of isolation Chia-chi felt from her former fellow students that made her cling onto Mr Yi and fool herself into believing it was love and not a desperate loneliness caused her and her fellow radical students’ deaths. Ridiculous, he was no young actor turned foolish revolutionary wannabe thrown into the harsh reality of espionage without any training and believing himself to be in love with his target. He wasn’t feeling trapped by the pressure of outside forces, demanding he conform to the current regime or do his bit to help undermine the enemy.

But turning away from Ming Xiao wasn’t convincing her that there was nothing wrong with him. Sebastian laid flat on his back again, his eyes staring upwards to the canopy, “No, I wasn’t troubled by anything in that story,” he flatly stated.

“Well, you won’t mind if we discuss it then,” Ming Xiao outstretched her arm, her hand nowhere close to being able to reach the book that was sitting on the nightstand. But then Ming Xiao’s arm unnaturally began to extend itself, the skin becoming taut before rips of little tears showed a glimpse of the viscera of muscle underneath. If Sebastian had not seen much worse in his time, the sight would’ve made him cringe, but it did make him a little speechless. It didn’t help, that Ming Xiao’s eyes glittered at him, as though pleased by his reaction.

Once the book was in Ming Xiao’s hand, she pulled her arm back, and the little tears showing the muscle under the skin knitted themselves back together as her arm returned to its normal length. She smiled at him, explaining, “It’s just the basic level power of my shapeshifting ability.” Ming Xiao cracked the book open and flicked through a few pages, “Now, what did you think of the story Sebastian?”

Sebastian wetted his lips, “Well, I believe the author did a good job of describing the culture and atmosphere of Shanghai of the time period and-” he paused upon noticing Ming Xiao’s eyes glazing over. Obviously such simplistic criticism from him wasn’t what she had in mind. Sebastian unnecessarily coughed, “Well, to be honest, it’s clearly a story of a young woman completely over her head who foolishly believed she was in love with Mr Yi and threw away her whole cause for nothing because of that belief!”

Ming Xiao’s eyebrow arched, a wry smile appearing on her face, “Is that so? And why do you believe that Chia-chi has convinced herself that she was in love with Mr Yi? Do you disbelieve that she could’ve ever fallen for such a man?” Though the words of Ming Xiao’s question would have sounded disdainful to him, her tone on the other hand was more curious than mocking.

“Well, I suppose it’s not completely out of the question that Chia-chi might have grown some affection for Mr Yi after spending so much time with him but nothing she described about their relationship spoke of love!” Sebastian said the last point with some derision, “I mean who talks about making love with their lover like its cleansing as if by ‘a scalding hot bath’, if they are in love? The girl has no experience what love is really like!”

Ming Xiao’s fingers traced along his jaw, her jade green eyes studying him, “Oh? And you know what love is really like, Sebastian? Tell me, have you ever been in love?”

Sebastian glanced away from Ming Xiao, her gaze too much for him to take. Had he ever been in love? Once he had thought he was in love, with a young woman in his hometown, Calais. They had been going to get married after he came back home but with his embrace after Waterloo that never ended up happening. By the time he returned to Calais she had long died in childbirth along with her fifth child. The death did sadden Sebastian at the time but not as much as he thought it should have. At first Sebastian had thought it was due to him being a vampire, that his human emotions were deadened to such pain, yet finding out about the deaths of his family and friends had hit him harder than the passing of his former bride to be, showing that his human emotions were not truly smothered after all, rather his love for her hadn’t been as strong as he had thought.

Disturbed by the lack of intensity of mourning he had felt for his dead bride to be, Sebastian had tried to rationalise. Of course he wasn’t that sad about his love dying before he could see her again, he was happy that she had found love again after his supposed death and lived a good life before passing. But that rationale fell apart rather quickly as the same could be said for his family and friends and yet their deaths had still caused him great pain in his heart. Upon reflection, Sebastian had realised that while he had indeed cared for his bride to be, he had never actually loved her, not truly, rather it had been simply expected by his family and hers that they would marry and have children together. But had he actually wanted that simpleton style of life? No. Despite the pain Sebastian had gone through, his embrace had been the best thing that had ever happened to him, it had saved him from a life of mediocracy.

There had been other times throughout his existence that Sebastian had thought he was in love with someone, man or woman or whatever, no matter the gender. But either the love had faded and he and his lover had gone their separate ways, or the beloved had been using him in some scheme to further themselves for their own ends, although it didn’t do them much good as he soon found out and disposed of them accordingly. But true love, in which you would do something so foolish as to throw your whole cause out of the window? No, Sebastian didn’t think he’d actually experienced that. Although over the years he had heard of Toreadors or younger Kindred wax poetically about their lost mortal loves, the longer they went on about them, the more likely their love was more likely to be real. So the concept of being in love wasn’t completely lost on him but it definitely didn’t fit in with his plans.

Then again, was the concept of him having ever been in love really relevant to this discussion? It didn’t take a genius to work out that love wasn’t meant to be how Chia-chi was describing her love for Mr Yi. So why was Ming Xiao asking? Sebastian held suspicions that she wasn’t really asking about whether he had ever been in love to discuss the story but rather to see if he was falling for her. Sebastian flicked his gaze back to Ming Xiao’s expectant face, answering with as much detachment as he could, “There were times I thought I was in love but it turned out to be nothing more than just lust or infatuation. However, I have loved my friends and family dearly and know when you do feel a love for them it is a feeling of safety and companionship. I imagine true love is much the same way.”

There was a shadow that came over Ming Xiao’s eyes as she spoke, “At least it sounds like you’ve known true friendship. It’s a shame you have never known true love. Though its not surprising, true love is awfully rare and many people don’t truly experience it.”

“Have you experienced true love, Ming?” Sebastian winced inwardly at himself for asking that stupid question, he wouldn’t be surprised if that was a sore subject to be poking his nose into. But to Sebastian’s surprise Ming Xiao didn’t get upset with him or even change the subject, instead her gaze became faraway in thought, her fingers trailing down from his jaw to his throat and he felt a shiver run along his spine at the light touches.

After a long moment, Ming Xiao looked at Sebastian squarely in the eye, her voice soft and whimsical, “Yes, there was a time I thought I felt true love, it was so long ago I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you when it happened. You know how time flitters by with us immortals…” Sebastian nodded in agreement, he too had a hard time sometimes recalling the faces, voices and names of those before his embrace. Ming Xiao continued, “But there was one woman who I loved ever so dearly, I thought if she should ever die I wouldn’t be able to go on living out my existence. She was so beautiful that I had a hard time keeping my eyes off her and her mind was so incredibly sharp…”

Ming Xiao softly chuckled to herself, “I would’ve gone back to Yomi for her.”

The edge of bitterness in that statement didn’t go unnoticed by Sebastian, this love of Ming Xiao obviously unlikely ended well for her. Sebastian wouldn’t have been surprised if it turned out this woman Ming Xiao had loved had betrayed her. He couldn’t imagine this wayward lover would have had a particularly pleasant death if that had been the case. “What happened to her?”

Ming Xiao’s lips pressed together tightly downward, “Hundreds of years I was devoted to her and it all turned out that she was playing the long game, building me up for this scheme she had devised against a rival. Her success ruined me in the eyes of so many Kuei-jin. I was such a child to have not seen the truth of her manipulations sooner.” Sebastian asked how she had been ruined. “My Dharma, my path of enlightenment wasn’t always the one I follow now, there was a time I didn’t want to lose my connection to humanity,” she sighed with a bitter laugh, “but thanks to her influence, I lost my way, far, far from my Dharma and ultimately I was forced to change my Dharma which made me lose respect with my elders and I had deeply shamed my mentor. If I had been much younger when I failed my Dharma I would’ve been scolded but not shamed, after all, its expected for the young to fail but not one who is old enough to know better!”

Ming Xiao breathed in before continuing, “It’s so funny, at the time she had told me that she would stand by me when I had to change my Dharma. But of course, when the time came she was nowhere to found. Although I should thank her for the harsh lesson in being so trusting and ignoring the warning signs. I hope I have imparted some sort of a lesson to her about how not to think that the person you wronged won’t be willing and able to plan their revenge against you.” She smiled cruelly, “Of course it might be a little hard for her to have time to remember that lesson while suffering the tortures of Yomi, though.”

Sebastian grinned weakly as a chill went down his spine. He wanted to take his gaze off her eyes but found himself unable to, like a deer caught in headlights, “I see you don’t suffer fools that easily, Ming.”

“As I imagine neither do you, Sebastian. But we’re being off topic, I do agree with you that Chia-chi couldn’t have been truly in love with Mr Yi, however she did grow enough affection for him to not want him to die,” Ming Xiao said, flicking to another page in the book, “Why do you think that is, Sebastian? How can someone so passionate about a cause come to care about a traitor?”

Sebastian chuffed, “Well, it’s not surprising Chia-chi learned to have such affection for Mr Yi when she had to spend nearly all her time at his house. And not to mention the fact that all her ‘comrades’ practically held her at arm’s length or acted like she was dirty for doing what she needed to do!”

“And there was nothing for her to truly gain from this little assassination of Mr Yi, selfishly speaking. Of course, yes, the ultimate cause of sabotaging the collaborators of the Japanese is a noble goal but what did Chia-chi have waiting for her once the mission was over? A family? Doubtful, otherwise she would’ve made mention of said family. And we know she avoided romance whenever possible and her only sexual experience before Mr Yi was with Leung Yeun-sang, a man she disliked!” Ming Xiao’s voice was becoming increasingly filled with unexpected passion, “And, as you said, her fellow radical students treated her with such disrespect, when they should’ve been glorifying her for making the sacrifice of having to seduce and lower herself to a traitor! So it shouldn’t be unexpected that their mission failed. When you don’t give your agents a reason to follow you, your cause will ultimately fail.”

Sebastian nodded his head heavily, “Yes, that’s very true and through their isolation of her and Chia-chi’s lack of training it’s no wonder she fooled herself into believing that she was in love with Mr Yi, to the point she threw her cause away to warn him. They doomed themselves!”

Ming Xiao slammed shut the book, “Yes. But I get the feeling you only think of Chia-chi as a foolish girl that knows no better.”

“Personally, I think that Mr Yi was a bigger fool for not seeing the honey trap spy right under his nose.”

Ming Xiao’s fingers fiddled with Sebastian’s collar, “Oh, you give poor Chia-chi no credit. Mr Yi fell for her trap because she knew not to play the lovesick fool but rather the materialistic gold digger who would happily humour a man of his age to receive gifts of jewellery.”

Sebastian chewed the inside of his lip, “Yes, your right about that, Chia-chi did a rather good job of fooling him, knowing that he would be suspicious of a pretty young woman wanting a balding man like him. Although I doubt she would’ve continued her delusions of being in love if she knew he believed that he possessed her ghost.”

“Is that what was bothering you about the story, Sebastian? The idea of someone possessing your spirit even after final death?” Ming Xiao asked, pressing gentle kisses along his Adam’s apple. Sebastian hissed a breath when he felt a sharp fang run down his throat to his artery. He glanced down in shock at to see Ming Xiao now suddenly had sharp fangs much like his own. Although it was silly for him to be so surprised, after all how was a young Kuei-jin supposed to sustain themselves in drinking blood if they didn’t have a easy way to puncture the neck.

However, even with that understanding he couldn’t take the annoying breathlessness out of his voice, “I thought you no longer have to drink blood anymore, as you refine your existence, Ming.”

“I certainly hope you are not saying that your Cainite blood isn’t worth savouring on my palette, Sebastian. That would be rather uncharacteristically unconfident of you,” Ming Xiao chuckled as she swirled the tip of her tongue around his artery, “Your Cainite blood is much better at sustaining me than any mortal’s bodily fluids can now. You have been feasting on me for the past couple of times, I hope you won’t mind if I do the same…”

Sebastian swallowed, was this how she’d take him down? Drain him of blood until he was ash? Would it be like diablerie, perhaps it wouldn’t be the end and he could fight to take over her body? But Sebastian somehow doubted a woman like Ming Xiao could be so easily overcome even by his will. Sebastian couldn’t see a reason for her to kill him now, but could he really take the risk? And yet he found himself curious of what it would feel like to have a Kuei-jin feed on him. It probably wouldn’t be any different than if a Kindred sank their fangs into him, pain washing away to bring incredible pleasure. Perhaps it would even bound Ming Xiao to him in a blood bond, though he had never heard of any rumours of Kuei-jin being made blood slaves to any Kindred. Maybe just as her blood had no effect on him, his blood wouldn’t effect Ming Xiao?

Sebastian shut his eyes and breathed out, “Yes, it’s only fair.” He gasped as Ming Xiao’s sharp fang sank down into his artery, the pain departing quickly for a massive tide of pleasure followed by an acute panic of being possibly drained dry, though embarrassingly the potential danger excited him and he unconsciously directed blood to his cock, hardening it.

Disappointingly Ming Xiao soon pulled her fangs off him and the dazing pleasure quickly left Sebastian. Yet from the way she licked the ribbons of blood that dripped down to his chest, staining his crisp white shirt red, it wasn’t because she found his taste displeasing. Ming Xiao suckled a little more blood out of the bite marks before kissing Sebastian on his lips, “Hmm…that was rather nice,”

“I’m glad,” he replied with a pant, his arms wrapping around Ming Xiao’s shoulders and pulling her even closer to his body, kissing her passionately.

She chuckled into his ear as his clothed cock rubbed against her, “Oh, Sebastian, I see you’ve enjoyed my little feast, do you want me to take care of that for you?” Ming Xiao offered with a smirk as she reached a hand down to lightly squeeze his cock.

“Only if you truly want to, ma cherie,” Sebastian said desperately, pushing apart more of Ming Xiao’s silk robe and roaming his hands over her breasts and hips. He sighed as she unzipped his trousers and pulled out his cock, her fingers massaging along his shaft. Ming Xiao’s eyes fluttered as his fingers travelled down to her Venus mound, parting her labia and rubbing in small circles on her clit.

Ming Xiao then suddenly clawed onto his dress shirt and pulled it open wide, several buttons flying everywhere, her fingers raking all over Sebastian’s chest, “Oh, but I truly do,” she stated with a playful smile.


	10. Conflicted Feelings

Ming Xiao awoke in the late afternoon to the horribly familiar coldness that enveloped her naked back and stomach, cold like the grave. Peering down, she found the source. Sebastian, at some point before the breaking dawn had lulled him into slumber, had wrapped his arms around her. A flash of memory came to Ming Xiao. After having made love last night, they had become rather affectionate and touchy with each other, as though they couldn’t bear to not be in constant embrace. Feelings of fondness towards Sebastian bloomed in her upon recalling how he had held her tight against his then warmed body and peppered her with soft kisses until they had both fallen asleep. Strange how remembering that took the edge off the chill that his still dead-to-the-world sleeping body gave her. Ming Xiao chuckled to herself and turned herself around to see his peaceful slumbering face.

There were a million things that needed to be done tonight, she ought to get a start on, yet Ming Xiao found herself tracing Sebastian’s cheekbones with delicate touches of her fingertips. She had to admit there was a growing fondness for him that was much more than the enjoyment of a toy. A favoured pet, perhaps? The idea of her feelings for Sebastian being more than that wasn’t something Ming Xiao particularly wanted to dwell on.

Instead, Ming Xiao focused on the fact that Sebastian had willingly stayed the day in her domain. Quite an accomplishment, considering the fact she had sensed his trepidation earlier. There had been so much going around in his thoughts and Ming Xiao knew it wasn’t just due to the story she had read to him, although it did seem to have had an affect on him and unexpectedly on her as well. Odd, as when she had read **_Lust, Caution_ **in the past it had never provoked such impassioned emotion in her but it seemed her Wu’s confrontation with her yesterday had affected her a lot more than she had been happy to admit at the time.

But how could she not be affected? After all, she, their Ancestor, had been willing to lower herself to a Cainite for the cause and they had had the nerve not to show an ounce of appreciation nor respect for her sacrifice! Not that the sacrifice had been hard or particularly awful for her to perform, rather pleasurable, truthfully, but still, it wasn’t something a Kuei-Jin of her age should be doing willy-nilly.

Ming Xiao brushed aside a stray strand of hair from Sebastian’s face and closed her eyes. It would be so easy to just put off her tasks for tonight, to just linger in his arms until he awoke. Anything to calm the anger and resentment brewing inside towards those that doubted her, but that just wasn’t realistic.

After watching Sebastian’s deathly still sleeping form for a few minutes, Ming Xiao realised that he wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon. So reluctantly she pulled herself away from his cold embrace, ignoring the spark of emptiness she was feeling. There was so much to do and it all concerned the good news from Tai about the Nosferatu the Tong had managed to capture. Hopefully this test subject would last longer than the others had previously.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Ming Xiao glanced back at Sebastian. How interesting that a Nosferatu was skulking around Chinatown. When she received the news, he had looked rather worried and wasn’t convinced that it was nothing important, although she doubted Sebastian could’ve actually understood what had been said, but still…

Oh, she couldn’t be messing around with what ifs and maybes! Ming Xiao stood up and stretched her arms, before bending down to pick up her silk robe from the floor. Looking at the clock, she could see that it would be prudent for her to get a move on, especially since she had wasted so much time gazing dreamingly into Sebastian’s sleeping face…

After having taken a quick shower and dressed, Ming Xiao attended to some small but necessary business. The constant criminal activity committed by the Tong meant the people of Chinatown needed her guidance more than ever. But annoyingly, Dong’s, Heng’s and Young’s voiced concerns of the lasting damage they were causing by funding the Tong, hung heavily on her mind as she comforted a mother. The middle-aged woman sobbed in near hysterics about her twenty-year old son running off to join the Tong for easy cash, fearing that he’d get himself killed.

Ming Xiao tried to push aside the disquieting feelings that she was doing more damage to the community than could ever be repaired once Los Angeles finally belonged to the Kuei-jin. Easier said than done. Finally she managed to lock those emotions away by reminding herself that if the Camarilla, the Anarchs or the Sabbat got full control of Los Angeles, they would do much more lasting damage to the community than she or the Tong could ever do.

Once the business of seeing to those who needed her guidance was done for the night, Ming Xiao made her way back into the temple. It had been at least a couple of hours since she had last left Sebastian, surely he had woken up by now. Perhaps he had need of nourishment. She didn’t bother trying to hide from herself the giddiness at the thought, it was always pleasurable to be fed upon by him, as much as she knew it was wonderful for him to be fed on by her as well.

But Ming Xiao was pulled from those pleasant thoughts when she saw Heng Wen walking down the hallway. There was that little bit of business from last night that needed settling. Pasting on a smile and squaring her shoulders, Ming Xiao moved to block Heng’s way. “Wen, I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time?” She didn’t actually care if she was.

If Ming Xiao had felt like being petty and causing more unnecessary problems, she would’ve smirked at Heng glaring daggers at her. “No, you haven’t, Mistress Xiao.” Obviously she had from the hint of annoyance in his tone. Normally, she’d lecture him on his blatant disrespect towards her, but after last night, there were some allowances she was willing to make. Heng should be grateful.

“I wish to discuss your behaviour towards my guest yesterday, Wen,” she stated sternly, watching his lips press together thinly, “I understand that you must be rather upset about me letting a Cainite into our domain, but I had told Prince LaCroix that my Wu were understanding of our relationship,” Ming Xiao stepped forward a few paces towards Heng, whose expression was of a cornered animal, “And you made me look the fool in front of him, Wen.”

“How did you expect me to act with that Cainite snake walking in here like he owned the place? Like he’d conquered another exotic-” Heng reluctantly clamped up when Ming Xiao fiercely glared at him, “And you didn’t exactly warn us that he was going to be visiting our domain…” Heng added with a shrug.

“I expect all of my Wu and court to be respectful and courteous when I’m meant to be lulling the enemy into my hands,” Ming Xiao pointed out, but she’d be kind and throw a bone, “But, you have a good point, Wen, I should’ve informed you all that we would have a guest. My apologies.”

“Of course, Mistress Xiao,” Heng replied flatly. He looked like there was more he wanted to say but held back. Since she could guess it wouldn’t be entirely flattering to her character, Ming Xiao didn’t push him to voice his thoughts. After a pause, Heng glanced over her shoulder, “If there’s nothing more, I really have to…”

“Of course, please don’t let me keep you, Wen,” Ming Xiao said graciously and stepped out of Heng’s way, allowing him to pass. Once Heng had left, Ming Xiao continued on her way back to her chambers, eager to see if Sebastian had woken up yet.

The moment she stepped inside, Ming Xiao saw that indeed Sebastian was awake and he was just buttoning up his suit jacket. She closed the door behind her, “I trust that you had a good rest, Sebastian.”

Sebastian lifted up his head in her direction with a little surprise on his face, “Oh, yes, yes, I did, it-” he paused as if to consider his words, “It has been the best I’ve slept in a longtime.”

A curious concept he was admitting to her, “Is that so? I thought you Kindred slept like the dead, I didn’t think you would still be able to have troubled sleep.”

He smoothed a strand of hair over his ear, “Well, it’s not as bad as it used to be for me as a mortal but it occasionally occurs, although it’s not as though Kindred can just jolt awake from a nightmare…”

Ming Xiao strode over to Sebastian, feeling a stab of sympathy for him. “Is that so? What is troubling you?”

Sebastian sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, “If it’s not the constant problems with dealing with the other lesser factions, it’s-” he stopped himself and his head slumped down onto his chest. Before she could encourage him to continue, Sebastian resumed, “It’s this constant feeling of pressure in this city! Surely you have felt it too?”

Ming Xiao sat down next to him, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “Yes, I have, Sebastian. What about it?”

He sighed heavily, ran his hands through his hair and brought up his face to look at her, “I was thinking…” there was a mixture of struggle and uncertainty in Sebastian’s icy blue eyes, his lips hesitating to allow any more to be said. Ming Xiao held his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, only then did he seem to manage to find the words, “I-I believe this pressure is very likely coming from the ancient slumbering in the Ankaran sarcophagus...”

Ming Xiao had suspected as much and that was why she needed to get her hands on it, so the sarcophagus could be safety discarded. Perhaps Sebastian was going to suggest that they should destroy the Ankaran sarcophagus together?

“I need it, Ming. If we’re to rule this city together, I need to take the power that is inside!” Ming Xiao had never heard such panic in Sebastian’s voice, it disconcerted her, overwhelming any disappointment she had regarding his foolishness in wanting the sarcophagus.

She found herself wanting to explain to Sebastian the idiocy of tempting fate by opening the damned thing. However, she pushed that desire down, it wasn’t merely motived by her own desire to prevent the Sixth Age but also this new need to save Sebastian from himself. A part of her wondered how she hadn’t seen this before. It was as if the veil had been lifted from her eyes. The overpowering look of desperation in Sebastian’s eyes, his mutterings of ‘if he had the power’ even Nines Rodriguez would bend to them. How did she miss it? She recalled his eyes always being glued to the television or radio whenever mention of the Ankaran sarcophagus came up. It had been in her face and she had ignored it! Of course, there hadn’t been further talk of what the next step was to deal with the Sabbat! Maybe this obsession with the Ankaran sarcophagus was the reason that his people had been slow in finding Nines Rodriguez as well? He had hidden this all so well. Had this growing affection for him blinded her? And now Sebastian’s ill-fitting façade of an in-control leader had finally crumbled, he was willing to show her the mess he had become and he had voluntarily slept here, instead of going back to his domain. Sebastian trusted her. Perhaps he had even fallen in love with her? She had won. But why didn’t it feel like this was a total victory over him?

“We can have it all, Ming!” Sebastian said hysterically, rapidly turning to Ming Xiao and grasping onto her shoulders, “We can build a new world order! We can-” his voice faltered, his eyes searching hers, quickly becoming despondent, “You don’t think that’s possible do you?”

“Sebastian…” Ming Xiao said gently, bringing up a hand to cup his cheek, “We can have so much, but this desire to have the sarcophagus is nothing more than a ‘get rich fast’ type of scheme. Very rarely does it work out without having to pay for some heavy consequences.” While Sebastian’s obsession with the sarcophagus could be a way for her to exploit him, Ming Xiao’s instincts were telling her it would be better to help him nip this troublesome obsession in the bud. Not that it was entirely needed, after all the Chang Brothers were sure to bring back the Ankaran sarcophagus, but there was a growing fear that they might be too late.

Sebastian didn’t look her in the eye, his lips were pressed tightly together in a thin line. She continued on when he slightly opened his mouth. “And not only that, it could trigger the Age of Sorrow, Sebastian! Do you want to be responsible for that?” she asked him with passion in her voice. There was more that she wanted to say but she held her tongue, for it could reveal a weakness that he mustn’t see. She had showed him enough for one lifetime.

“No, no, I don’t want to possibly doom the world…” Sebastian said finally, pulling her close into an embrace. Ming Xiao found herself closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder, the weight of his head on hers and the warmth he gave off brought some measure of comfort. However that comfort didn’t last long upon her hearing the words that he next spoke into her ear, “But, I’m quite sure once I get my hands on it, that whoever is in there will still be slumbering by the time I sink my fangs into them.”

 _Not without the key, Sebastian you won’t,_ Ming Xiao thought to herself, _not while I still linger in this existence, would I ever let you take it from my hands._ But simply having the key to the Ankaran sarcophagus might not be enough, as she feared that Sebastian’s monster of a Sheriff might use his rumoured powerful strength to rip off the lid. It was imperative that the sarcophagus was found quickly and disposed off…

As she watched Sebastian get into his limo, the sense of ill-ease caused by what they had spoken of didn’t leave as Ming Xiao had hoped. A thought still lingered in her mind that she should’ve said more to turn him away from this foolish, desperate path he was walking on. Again, Ming Xiao suppressed these thoughts, it wasn’t likely that she could’ve helped him, he was stubborn enough to continue on to his doom…


	11. Desperate Longings and Inner Demons

If Ming Xiao already felt ill at ease from having seen off Sebastian lost in his delusions, then she became even more so, returning to the greeting room to see Tai waiting for her. The pitying sigh that escaped his lips and the soft shake of his head, as if he were a disappointed mentor despite the fact he was around same age as Ming Xiao, irritated her no end!

Ming Xiao took in a deep breath before walking over to Tai and pasting on her best smile, “I hope this evening has been treating you well, Jiang,” she said in the most pleasant tone she was able to muster, awaiting the snide comeback he no doubt had prepared. The wry chuckling noise Tai was making was giving it away.

Tai let out a little sigh, “My evening would be better if I didn’t have to listen to the gossip about your little Cainite Prince’s visit to our compound last night that worries me terribly…”

Ming Xiao kept her lips tightly together in a smile, in spite the strong urge to grind her teeth at Tai’s statement. A big part of her wanted to point out that he hadn’t appeared to have any trouble with Sebastian being in her personal quarters last night when he’d come to her about the Nosferatu that had been captured, but she suppressed that, after all there might be a perfectly reasonable concern that she could reassure Tai about.

She clasped her hands together, speaking calmly, “And what is it about his visit to my personal quarters that concerns you, Jiang?”

Tai came towards Ming Xiao, only stopping shy a few inches, “It’s not just me that’s concerned Mistress Xiao, I’m afraid that Zhao has heard from Wen and Li about Prince LaCroix’s visit and that sparked a myriad of worries and criticisms of your plans.”

 _Again, they wish to doubt me and my plans?!? How dare they even think to-_ But Ming Xiao ceased those wrath-filled thoughts, losing her temper would only prove their criticisms of her leadership right. She couldn’t afford anyone else leaving her Wu and court. Kalliyan was surely the start, a warning that any more mistakes on her part would soon cause the others to abandon the cause.

Keeping her expression the picture of absolute serenity and again managing to retain the peacefulness in her voice as she spoke, “I see, well then, we shouldn’t delay and set up a meeting with everyone. Right now, if it’s possible.”

Tai placed his hand gracefully over his chest, giving Ming Xiao a small bow of his head, “Of course, Mistress Xiao, they were all hoping for that to be the case. Shall we meet up again in the gardens or the conference room?”

“Conference room this time.” Ming Xiao had a feeling that she wanted to be sitting down for this one.

He lifted his head, a smirk playing on his lips, “Very good, Mistress but I have to warn you that Tang and Chen won’t unfortunately be able to join us for tonight’s meeting…”

 _Yes, I’m aware of that fact! How kind of you to rub it in! Of course, they would want to set up a meeting to strike me with their criticisms with Hui busy in the Jade Kingdom and Shufen out doing an important task for me!_ Ming Xiao thought bitterly. “A shame really, but let’s not delay, I wish to work through any worries you all have as soon as possible,” she said with as much grace as she was able to conjure.

Even though Ming Xiao had been told by Tai earlier that Dong, Heng and Young were eager to have this annoying, unnecessary little meeting, they seemed so content to make her wait! Resisting the urge to show her impatience by loudly clacking her nails against the polished wooden table like a child, Ming Xiao instead smoothed the top of her bun, making sure it remained immaculate with not a single hair out of place, a task that quickly grew tiresome and the prospect of tapping her fingers on the table became ever more appealing.

Though, truly there were many things that would have been more alluring than having to wait for this unnecessary meeting to start. _Like having our Seb-_ She could’ve gone to the tea house to drink perfectly brewed tea, treat herself to delicate and delicious sweet cakes and have a pleasant and more fulfilling conversation with Yawen. _Yes, Sebastian would surely love to taste my more sweetened blood-_ Or Ming Xiao could’ve gone to the little noodle bar that was close by the temple for some tasty dishes, perhaps she could have a Guay Teow, she could do with a noodle soup tonight. _Yes, let’s show him more of my territor-_ Sure, the young Japanese woman that was on the night shift often looked at Ming Xiao with a level of suspicion, obviously a human that could sense the supernatural but she never did anything to her or to any other Kuei-jin that came into the place. _Show him the humbler places here, remind him that those rich upperclass places he’s been forced to inhabit and clearly hate, that there’s more to-_

Ming Xiao shook her head, trying to shake these irrational thoughts of spending time with Sebastian from her mind. This affection for him and need to have him in her company was becoming too much, the strain of the constant war with the Anarchs and being the Ancestor of her rapidly becoming unruly court had to be getting to her, making her to want to escape into Sebastian’s arms and she knew it was the same for him.

They both alone understood the hardship of ruling an organisation that held nothing but critics, backstabbers and whiners, demanding freedoms that they wouldn’t know what to do with! She had been lucky compared to Sebastian, who, despite his false reassurances to her, was one step away from being dethroned permanently but she didn’t want to give her Wu any reason to challenge her leadership either, she simply couldn’t afford to lose her position, not with the Sixth Age looming!

Thankfully, Ming Xiao was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of the conference room’s door opening, and in came Tai and Dong, closely followed by Heng and Yong. All four men took their seats in absolute silence. Tai chose to sit in the chair on Ming Xiao’s right, Dong to her left and Heng and Yong seated themselves on the opposite side of the table.

Ming Xiao straightened her back, her posture perfectly balanced and lifted her head, “Gentlemen, I’ve been told that you have worries and concerns about Prince Sebastian LaCroix’s visit to my quarters last night. Please do feel free to elaborate.” Yes, be quick about it, I have many tasks that need to be tended to and you are all delaying them horribly by calling this stupid meeting! she angrily thought, as everyone gave each other conspiratorial glances across the table rather than simply just being out with their criticisms already!

Finally, after a few seconds, Tai turned to Dong, his hand outstretched towards him, “I believe that perhaps we should allow Zhao to start, after all, he has the most pressing concerns of them all.” Again that awful smirk of his played on his lips as he spoke.

Dong quickly and gracefully bowed his head, leaning his linked hands on the table, “When I heard from Wen here about the Cainite Prince’s visit, I have to admit I was frankly appalled at the recklessness of allowing a leader of our enemies to just walk into our Temple!” Ming Xiao could hear the barely held back anger in Dong’s voice. “I know for the moment that Prince LaCroix is our ally but giving that conniving man the chance to observe our defences was so incredibly foolish, even for you, Xiao!”

 ** _Look at the disrespect that fool is giving you! How dare he not even refer to you by your title! You should punish this child!_** snarled the voice of Ming Xiao’s P’o. It had been a long while since she’d last heard its authoritative and cruel voice, it hated nothing more than when anyone, including herself, deviated from its ideals, no matter how ridiculous and impractical they were! ** _It’s bad enough that you even enjoy rolling around in the mud with that filthy Cainite but at least you have an excuse for your little indulgences. That stupid, foolish, lusty Cainite will suit our purposes for now, whorish child!_ **Ming Xiao could practically hear the venom in its voice as it spoke of Sebastian. She wanted to hiss back at it but now wasn’t appropriate. **_But you cannot allow this child in an old man’s body to make a fool of you like this, otherwise you are not worthy of holding the title of Ancestor!_**

 _I will not let Dong treat me like a fool but the kind of punishment I know you are fond of suggesting is not going to help my case here!_ she inwardly replied to her P’o, using all her willpower to push it back down. It growled weakly at her for being suppressed harshly but soon quietened down.

Ming Xiao smiled kindly at Dong as though she were merely a mother about to reassure an irrational child. “Zhao, I do appreciate your concerns about Prince LaCroix possibly seeing the entirety of our defences but rest assured he has only seen a few long hallways and my personal quarters. And Sebastian never left my room without my accompaniment the entire time of his visit.” As she finished her statement, out of the corner of her eye she could see Heng and Yong snickering to each other, no doubt finding funny the implication of how she had managed to keep Sebastian accompanied in her room all night long. No matter, they could have their childish giggling, she wasn’t going to waste time trying to defend herself.

Ming Xiao continued on the second Dong opened his mouth to say more. “And, may I add, that I have gotten the guards to be on full alert for any intruders or unwanted guests during the whole of LaCroix’s visit. Please be assured that our domain has not been compromised at all by his visit, Zhao,” she said, while placing a hand on her chest and bowing her head respectfully to Dong. Perhaps she had spoken a little too defensively as Dong’s frowning expression did not lessen one bit. Ming Xiao wanted to scream at his stubbornness in the face of her well-reasoned explanation but again this wasn’t how an Ancestor was meant to behave.

“It’s not just the idea of a security breach that concerns us, Mistress Xiao,” Tai cut in slowly, dropping his smirk into a more serious frown when Ming Xiao turned to face him, “but rather, we are deeply worried that you bringing a Cainite into our domain says much of the…” he paused dramatically, no doubt to show the gravity of his next words, Tai could be such a pretentious actor sometimes, “…depth of your affections for Prince LaCroix.”

Seeing everyone around the table gazing at her with a mixture of interest and disapproval, Ming Xiao placed her hands on her lap, clenching and unclenching them in frustration. She did not want this to be brought up, not now. And she didn’t want to be losing her temper and choking Tai in front of everyone, that would be exactly what he wanted!

“How can you say that Mistress Xiao has any affection or love for that Cainite snake?!?” Yong asked Tai with confusion.

Heng elbowed Yong in the ribs and whispered in his ear, though not quietly enough to be unheard by Ming Xiao’s ears. “Its called finding something in common, Li. I doubt Mistress Xiao would appreciate us making assumptions about her personal life right in front of her!”

 _Far too late for that!_ she inwardly grumbled and it appeared from the look Tai gave her, she’d soon have more to be upset about. “Li, I believe that Mistress Xiao’s affection for Prince LaCroix is like the love and adoration of a little puppy,” Tai explained with a chuckle, “Of course, such love and affection will fade the moment the little puppy makes an awful mess on the expensive carpet-”

Yong interrupted, “Well, that’s the fault of the owner for not putting down newspaper and properly training the puppy! It’s not the puppy’s fault if they piss everywhere, it’s a baby dog, for fucks sake-”

Seeing that Yong didn’t quite understand the metaphor that Tai was getting at, Ming Xiao quickly cut in sharply. “I don’t think that Jiang means that Prince LaCroix is literally going to be defecating on my carpet, Li!”

“Are you saying that Cainites can’t-”

“No, they cannot!” Ming Xiao hissed, trying not to grit her teeth and glare daggers towards Heng at the sound of his muffled laugher. _This is ridiculous! How have we come from talking about concerns about security breaches to Cainites’ bathroom habits!_

Tai cleared his throat. “I do believe that the metaphor has gotten a little out of hand… but the point is, Mistress, that if you become blind to Prince LaCroix’s intentions by your affections for him and he ends up causing us more trouble than help…”

“Regardless, Jiang, once LaCroix is no more use for us, then I will have him disposed of. I will do so to all the Cainite leaders of this city,” Ming Xiao said without blinking. These feelings for Sebastian meant nothing in the face of their cause. She’d do anything to stop the Age of Sorrow from happening!

Heng and Yong made grimacing faces at each other in reaction to the ruthlessness of her statement. Good, Ming Xiao did not want them to think she was a soft-hearted woman that was easily swayed by the affections of a Cainite. Dong’s lips pressed together in a thin line but his frown at last lessened. Tai peered at her, she could tell from the look in his dark brown eyes that he wasn’t entirely convinced by her words.

But then again, Tai had always irritatingly pried into her business when it came to lovers of hers, no matter how often she had made him back off. Ming Xiao had always hoped against hope that frustrating habit of his would simply go away after the hundreds of times she had asked, shouted at and threatened him to leave her love life well alone! However, anytime she needed to have a mortal or a fellow Kuei-jin fall for her charms, he would accuse her of falling in love with them and allowing that to cloud her judgment!

He just did not seem to understand that she wasn’t the foolish, lovesick, naïve woman he used to know. Did he forget that he emotionally crushed that girl a long time ago as a lesson to her and well… _ **she**_ did the rest. But the point was, having Sebastian taken care of when the time came would be upsetting for her. However that would fade in time, there would be more important things deserving her attention.

“Now if there are no further concerns you all wish to bring to me, I do have other matters that do need my attentions,” Ming Xiao announced, getting up from her seat slowly, watching everyone’s expression for any changes but, thankfully, they all nodded soberly and also got up from their seats.

As everyone left the conference room, Ming Xiao was stopped by Tai placing a hand on her arm. She scowled at him fiercely, at the nerve of his even touching her after expressing his yet again unnecessary strange assumptions that she would ruin everything because of her growing affections for Sebastian. “Yes, what is it?” Ming Xiao asked Tai with a growl, tugging her arm away from his touch.

“Ming, please! LaCroix may be a stupid child compared to you but he’s no fool. I believe he knows how to pull someone like you into a web as well you can.” Tai spoke so softly as he stated his concerns, it made Ming Xiao feel a tangled whiplash of wanting to both reassure him and to strangle him for thinking so little of her capabilities!

But Ming Xiao did neither of those things, instead she simply replied, “I’m quite aware of that fact but as I have stated before, when the time comes, I will dispose of him.” After receiving a nod from Tai in response, she resolutely walked out of the conference room.


	12. Faraway stars and glances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ::edit:: I changed the mentions of the Great Leap Outward to project Controlled Burn since it really wasn't the best of White Wolf's ideas to make a reference to the Great Leap Forward.  
> Credits to Sailing the Malky Way for helping me pick a much better name, thanks so much! :D

Ming Xiao awoke the next evening feeling incredible fury at the way her ‘Wu’ had ambushed her with the meeting the previous night, throwing their criticisms and doubts of her capabilities in her face. She also felt terribly lonely, missing Sebastian’s cold arms around her. Pathetic. She didn’t want to admit it, but she wondered if Tai had been right to be concerned about whether she would have the nerve to dispose of Sebastian when the time came. It was absolutely galling to even consider the idea, but Ming Xiao knew there was some truth to it. She was losing herself, the recurrence of her P’o was proof of that. It would be easy for Ming Xiao to blame her increasing unstableness on the mind control powers Grout had inflicted on her just before she killed him, but she doubted if that were the real cause.

No, this had been a long time coming. The five long years of the campaign against the Anarchs had been steadily wearing her down, and that had been made worse by her Wu losing their faith in her leadership. And the demeaning truth for Ming Xiao was that she had no-one amongst her Wu or court that she could even call a true friend or lover, just loyal servants that went along with whatever she ordered, not true companions she could confide in.

There had been a time Ming Xiao did have other members of her Wu that she called dear friends, but they had turned their backs on her, Dong and Tai the moment the call for the project Controlled Burn came. Refusing to believe that there was even a chance for the Sixth Age to be prevented, insisting that it was inevitable, and that project Controlled Burn was a waste of resources and time, they had even dared to look at Ming Xiao with pity in their eyes, as if she were some naïve child about to do something terribly foolish. Despite being hundreds of years younger than she was, they had thought they knew better and they had been all too willing to swallow the nihilistic backwards-thinking that certain of the Bodhisattvas had spat out.

It didn’t have to be the end! If they just purged the world of the majority of the filthy, western ignorant supernatural creatures and put the rest of them on the right path, the Age of Heaven could be brought back! But in this moment of weakness, Ming Xiao was beginning to wonder if all of this, the pain she was causing to her community, would even be worth it in the end. What if they weren’t even doing what actually needed to be done to stop the Sixth Age? Was it already too late and they were either delaying or speeding up the inevitable?

In the beginning there had been strong enthusiasm and fervour in her newly built Wu. Upon first arriving in America they had struck many nasty blows against the Anarchs, even Dong back then had been eager to punish these Cainites for their sins. But they had suffered constant losses from stubborn Anarchs who seemed content to fight to their last undying breath, no matter how many of their former comrades had seen the light and accepted the fairness of the New Promise Mandarinate. In the end both her Kuei-jin and the Anarchs had been forced to come to a standstill, neither side had been stupid enough to wear themselves thin.

But unlike the Cainites, Ming Xiao couldn’t do mass embraces to immediately recruit more foot soldiers, no, she had to wait at least of couple months to see if any of the fallen had received the Second Breath and risen. However, lately there hadn’t been many sane Kuei-jin rising, just hopelessly mindless, flesh-hungry Chih-mei that needed to be disposed of quickly. And Ming Xiao had a feeling that her fellow Kuei-jin in San Francisco would be too wrapped up in their own conflicts to be able to lend any aid in the war for Los Angeles.

Which was why this alliance with Sebastian was so crucial to their success, at the very least to prevent any more attacks from the Cainites. With both Rodriguez and the Sabbat out of the way, there would be the chance for victory. But with Rodriguez hidden from both of their sights and this obsession of Sebastian’s with the Ankaran sarcophagus, nothing was being achieved. Why hadn’t the Chang brothers found the cursed sarcophagus already? What was taking so long?

Ming Xiao brought her knees close to her chest and sighed, she too was starting to become obsessed with the Ankaran sarcophagus, desperate to rid the world of the possible disaster someone opening it would bring! The dreadful pressure that she could feel all around the city every night when she awoke was only getting more suffocating. The worrying news reports of strange storms, unbelievable creatures washing up on the shores and a red star in the night sky, only fuelled that fear that she was on the cusp of the end, that the Age of Sorrow was upon them and just one more little thing had to happen to trigger it!

 _Stop it! It’s not here yet, there’s still time…_ Yes, there was, and sitting around moping about the state of her life wasn’t going to do Ming Xiao any good. Perhaps I shall give Sebastian a visit, to get him back on track dealing with the Sabbat, _of course… It would help him take his mind off the sarcophagus and remind him of what’s really important here!_

And it would be good for her to be away from this environment in which she was constantly having her abilities doubted. Perhaps she would show Sebastian those more humble places in Chinatown that she had thought about showing him last night. The question was, what places would she show him first? There were so many restaurants, bars and clubs to choose from, it would have to be broadening but not so far outside of his tastes as to be off-putting. _I suppose it will have to be as much a surprise for me as for Sebastian._ Truthfully, it was becoming increasingly fun to be spontaneous lately…

The stars of the night sky were more visible when sitting on the beach than anywhere else in the whole of the city, a small reminder to Ming Xiao that there was more outside the confines of planet Earth. But would she ever live long enough to see if there were other worlds and life forms out in the great distance? And with her unfortunate inability to bear the sunlight without rotting, she couldn’t help wondering would space travel for Kuei-jin even be possible? Perhaps, if they were able to bring back the cycle to the Age of Heaven, it would cure her kind of this curse, or maybe that too was a pipe dream?

Grim thinking aside, it was exciting to imagine, after all, she had come to know almost all there was to know about every supernatural life form that the Earth had to offer, ones that, shockingly, these Cainites were terribly ignorant of. Honestly, how could they have managed to exist this long without even realising that the Fae were real and around them, or the fact that Werewolves were capable of being civil and not just bloodthirsty beasts? Most likely their Cainite ancient elders knew better, but this rampant ignorance was rather dismaying.

Although for Ming Xiao it had been amusing to watch Sebastian’s eyes go wide with surprise and hear him stumble over his words upon being informed that Fairies were indeed real. That whole little exchange had occurred during their little tour of some of the bars and restaurants. They had ended up at a little family-run place that specialised in hotpots. One of the customers, a tired looking woman, had brought along her little girl, who was dressed in a pink fairy outfit. This precocious little girl had run from table to table, waving her glittery star wand at the different customers, granting them wishes. The responses she had received were mostly polite delight, after all she was only a child playing games.

Of course, Sebastian was the only one who didn’t indulge the girl’s fantasies, rather he had looked at the child as if she had three heads or really did have fairy powers. He had been utterly paralysed in his indecision of how to react. Ming Xiao had found it incredibly funny to see this more than two-hundred-year-old Cainite Prince being bamboozled by the sheer imaginings of a normal human child. She couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the situation. Of course, this had earned her a glare from Sebastian once the little girl had been called away by her mother and a sharply voiced question, “What is so funny?”

She had smiled widely. “Well, it’s not everyday that I see you lack your usual smoothness when it comes to your interactions with mortals, Sebastian. I find it very endearing to see you so tongue-tied over a child’s fantasy!”

He had frowned and pouted his lips at her, “Well, I was put on the spot! How was I supposed to react?”

“Sebastian, she was only granting you a wish! You could’ve indulged her with a polite smile and a thank-you.”

“But that child had said she was granting my dearest wish, and w-well, I wasn’t sure that I knew what I truly woul-”, Sebastian stopped himself from saying more, and his icy blue eyes were briefly filled with despair and confusion before becoming cold again, “Well, never mind, it just seems so silly to see someone allow their child to run around dressed as a fairy, granting ‘wishes’! Let alone the very idea that fairies exist!” he had added with an amused chuckle. Oh, how that assurance of his belief in his own knowledge of the world was soon shaken.

Well, after Sebastian had recovered from the shock of finding out about the existence of fairies and found his words again, he had confessed, “I have to admit that my kind are a lot more ignorant about quite a number of things than I had first thought…” Then he had chewed on his bottom lip, glancing back at the little girl, who was now sitting with her mother at their table, kicking her feet with carefree excitement. Turning his gaze back to Ming Xiao, he had continued, “I feel now I’ve just realised that I am as lacking in knowledge of the vastness of the world around us as the Anarchs are…”

Ming Xiao had gently placed her hand on top of Sebastian’s more fidgety hand, giving it a soft squeeze. “Isn’t that how life is? Only a foolish man would believe that he knows absolutely everything there is to know. A wiser man, on the other hand, knows that there’s always more to learn about the world. That’s what we’ll do here once we make Los Angeles ours, teach them.” Even though Ming Xiao had known that what she had just told him was a lie to continue the façade of this alliance, the idea of making this city hers and Sebastian’s had been getting more appealing. Worryingly so.

However, Ming Xiao hadn’t dwell on the disturbing thought for too long and instead had enjoyed telling Sebastian all she knew of the many varied supernatural beings that made up their colourful yet dark world. At least he hadn’t been ignorant about the existence of Mummies. Sebastian had even regaled her with a tale from his younger nights as a neonate, of the time he had run amok one such powerful Mummy whilst trying to con them into a rather dodgy deal in exchange for a particularly useful artefact, which, of course, had blown up in his face, and he had needed to flee the city, for the Mummy had been rather powerful, not just in pure strength but also influence. Sebastian had ended the tale with a sigh and had stated that things would’ve gone far differently if he had had his Sheriff with him at the time, but funny enough, his fleeing the city had led him down the path to meeting his friend.

And of course, throughout the meal, Sebastian had been more than happy to tell Ming Xiao even more stories of his adventures, of his successes and failures, the lighthearted atmosphere between them lifting Ming Xiao’s spirit wonderfully, allowing her to forget, just for a little while, her duties. Walking down the beautiful and colourfully lit streets of Chinatown with Sebastian holding her hand as she shared her favourite places with him, had been exactly what she had needed.

But it had been just one innocent mention of the Ankaran Sarcophagus by a couple of college students that had shattered that joyful atmosphere. Sebastian had gone from chatty and affectionate to completely wistful and quiet, his eyes becoming filled with a dull paranoia.

Even with the change of scenery, walking along the sands of Long Beach had changed nothing of his mood, his eyes locked in a thousand-yard stare. Disappointment in Ming Xiao had soon quickly given way to anger at Sebastian’s obsession with the cursed sarcophagus, at his foolishness in chasing power even at the risk of dooming the world! But she hadn’t wanted to make things worse and instead had suffered in silence...

Having sat together for a while on the sands of Long Beach, looking up at the stars and listening to the sound of crashing waves, Ming Xiao could feel her anger and frustration at Sebastian increasing, as he sat in silence, motionless. The soothing atmosphere could do nothing to calm her, for these resentful and angry emotions of hers would no longer be denied.

She stood up suddenly, walking towards the shore, she couldn’t afford to lose her temper, not now. _But if not here, where then? If Sebastian truly loves me, then he’ll listen to my criticisms of his foolish behaviour-_ Ming Xiao rapidly shook the ridiculous thought from her head. Then she remembered, he would’ve fallen in love with the woman she had presented to him, the woman she showed to everyone else. _That is true, is it not?_ Sebastian wouldn’t want to listen to yet more criticism from her about the sarcophagus, not when he’d been so adamant that he could overcome any challenge that the ancient would present once he devoured them.

However, Ming Xiao knew that she couldn’t stand by and allow Sebastian to fester in his obsession anymore, as Rodriguez still hadn’t been found, and yet again all possible plans to deal with the Sabbat had been left on the wayside. They couldn’t work like this. It hadn’t been like this before the damned sarcophagus came into the picture! The Chang brothers needed to find that awful thing soon before-

“Ming, are you right?” Sebastian’s quiet question and the touch of his fingertips on her bare shoulder, jolted Ming Xiao out of her self-pitying thoughts.

But rather than the action being a comfort to her, she felt the lid of all her contained rage finally lifting fully up and she swiftly turned to face Sebastian and spat out, “Am I all right? How can I be when we’ve wasted half of our night on you completely zoned out, thinking about the stupid Ankaran sarcophagus? The very thing that would doom this world!”

“I-I- ” was all Sebastian could say before Ming Xiao interrupted him with a shove, not letting him get a word in edgeways.

“And because of your obsession, nothing is getting done! Not Rodriguez, not the Sabbat, not anything! You’d possibly doom this world just for the shot of true power!” Ming Xiao shouted, as she shoved Sebastian backwards each time he tried to speak up. She didn’t want to hear his excuses. “My Wu undermine my rule every second that Rodriguez and the Sabbat still live, they question all my decisions, most of all when it comes to you!” She was not going to stop until she had poured out to Sebastian everything that she had kept locked up, “As though they could do better than me in my position! I’ve done everything in these past five years possible to protect us, to stop the Sixth Age from coming!” Ming Xiao stopped for a moment, knowing if she went on, she would say too much, possibly even reveal how his presence had started to become a great comfort to her, but perhaps she had said too much already….

When Sebastian pulled Ming Xiao into an embrace, soothingly stroking her back, she granted herself the privilege of letting herself cry. It was not even for his benefit, but for hers alone, she needed this, a moment to allow herself to be vulnerable. As they stood silently in place, with her face buried in his shoulder, it occurred to her how odd it was that he hadn’t spoken a single word after her rant at him, not even in self-defence. Maybe he knew there was no point, that she was right in her criticisms, or perhaps he was waiting for her to calm down before giving his excuses.

But if Sebastian had any excuses, he certainly wasn’t sharing them with her. Ming Xiao was glad he wasn’t, glad that he was just holding her, letting her cry without comment, she did not think that she could’ve handled his reassurances.


	13. A turning point

Sebastian continued to hold Ming Xiao in silence even after the sounds of her sobs had ceased. He didn’t know what else to do, holding her like this seemed best, he was afraid to try to speak to her, perhaps if he tried to reassure her he’d only make her angry again. Making people angry by speaking at the wrong time seemed to be Sebastian’s forte these nights, the story of his whole Princedom in a nutshell.

Nothing he had done or said seemed to be good enough for anyone; not for the Anarchs - to be expected - but the level of visceral verbal abuse he had received from them after making a perfectly reasonable deal, one that most Princes wouldn’t even dare to consider, had been appalling; not for the Primogen, with their constant criticisms of his tactics and unending intriguing against each other and himself; how did they expect him to get anything done? And now he had another person finding his efforts lacking, Ming Xiao. Yet he couldn’t blame her for her anger and frustration, it was all true, he hadn’t managed to have Rodriguez found or move forward in his plans to deal with the Sabbat, truthfully he hadn’t made any at all!

Sebastian had tried to make plans last night, after Ming Xiao had voiced her concerns about the possibility of his dooming the world by opening the sarcophagus, but every time he had begun to sit down to formulate the next move, interruptions kept coming, ones that he couldn’t ignore, Clan business. The Primogen, aside from Strauss who just looked down at Sebastian pointedly, had been shouting their complaints about Gary’s disappearance and the lack of action in dealing with the Sabbat as well as other more trivial matters.

He had just soaked it all in, not bothering to speak up since they all seemed to love hearing the sound of their own voices. They never wanted to hear his solutions, being too incompetent to truly understand what would be required to really flush the Sabbat out of their nests. Honestly, aside from Strauss, Gary and the late Grout, it seemed that his Primogen were made up of stupid, entitled Kindred who had been sent to Los Angeles to fail as much he himself was.

Thankfully a phone call from the Fledgling had placed the Primogen’s worries about Gary’s safety to rest but also distressed them even more with talk of the ever-growing threat of the Sabbat. It had put Sebastian on edge as well, hearing the Fledgling talk of the numerous horrific Tzimisce creations running around the sewers of Hollywood. That they’d created so many in such a short space of time was disturbing to say the least. Luckily, his protégé, the Fledgling, had already shown impressive ability, not only having killed the Tzimisce responsible for the vile creations but also getting a lead on the sarcophagus.

Sebastian had wanted to cut the meeting short, but Strauss, who had finally spoken up after being silent for the whole meeting, had asked Sebastian to have the Fledgling tell them more about the lead on the sarcophagus. Of course, Sebastian had no choice but to allow the Fledging to elaborate on this lead of theirs. No-one seemed to be upset at Gary’s little prank on him, allowing someone else to get their hands on the sarcophagus, not even Strauss, who was superstitious and concerned about the influence of the artifact, breathed a single criticism of the Nosferatu Primogen. However, Sebastian had soon pushed the annoying favouritism the Primogen had out of his mind upon hearing what Gary wanted in exchange- for the Fledging to find a missing agent he had sent to Chinatown.

Tentatively holding Ming Xiao tighter, Sebastian felt his gut twist with uneasiness, remembering the chill that had gone down his spine upon hearing the short conversation in their mother tongue between Ming Xiao and one of her men, and also how she had told him it wasn’t any of his concern. Like hell, it wasn’t! But had it been Gary’s agent they had discussed, and if so, did that mean Ming Xiao had been informed of the agent’s death? Did Ming Xiao believe that he was responsible for sending the agent to Chinatown to spy on her? And if she did think that, would he be able to prove to her that he really hadn’t known? Sebastian would bear any snideness about his inability to keep a close eye on his Primogen for- for what, besides keeping this alliance going? He didn’t want to answer that question.

Hell, he didn’t know what he wanted anymore! His desire for the power in the sarcophagus was becoming tangled up with these growing feelings for Ming Xiao. Sebastian did know that he wanted to have it all with Ming Xiao, rule the city side by side. But the desire to rule this city together couldn’t possibly be made a reality if he didn’t grant himself true power. However, he wouldn’t be able to truly be with her if he did open the sarcophagus. Even if nothing happened, she would hate him for having been so irresponsible as to risk the possibility of bringing about Gehenna for the chance of true power.

Ming Xiao hadn’t been the only one to say the sarcophagus would spell their doom, many of this city’s Kindred had felt the same way, including Kamau. It didn’t help that the signs of Gehenna were starting to mount, the huge number of Caitiff in the city including Thinbloods, a red star in the night sky and now the reports of storms happening around the world. And it didn’t matter that Beckett, a renowned scholar, had often attempted to debunk these signs; something was going to happen soon, Sebastian just didn’t know when. Perhaps all this struggle for power and complete rule of the city was pointless if it was all going to end anyway.

While the thought of an inevitable end was incredibly dismal, it also made Sebastian want to throw caution to the wind and take Ming Xiao far, far away from Los Angeles! They didn’t have much time left together, and he had wasted half of this wonderful evening dwelling on petty, desperate grabs for power! The Sabbat and the Anarchs could have this rotten city for all he cared! Let them fight for scraps when the Antediluvians rose! He didn’t care anymore, he didn’t…

Sebastian gently pulled away from the embrace and brought up his hands to lift Ming Xiao’s face. He was now able to see the black kohl around her jade green eyes had become smudged from her crying. It hurt to see that he had partly caused this, becoming the last straw that had broken the camel’s back. “I-I’m so sorry for ruining this night for you,” Sebastian started slowly, “I’m so sorry for not finding Rodriguez or making further plans for the destruction of the Sabbat of late, but from this night forth I’m going to make a constructive effort to sow the seeds of the Sabbat’s and Anarchs’ destruction!”

The way Ming Xiao stared at him blankly for a painfully long moment before tears began to run down her face again made Sebastian fear that he had still found a way to say the wrong thing, but then she began laughing and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug, “And here I had thought you would be too proud to ever apologise!”

Rather than being offended by Ming Xiao’s remark, Sebastian felt nothing but relief and bent his head down to kiss her. The way she kissed him back hard and ran her fingers through his hair before gripping onto it tightly was intoxicating and exciting. Sebastian held her against his body as close as humanly possible, meeting every challenge Ming Xiao’s hard kisses brought with his own passionate ones. Feeling her lips against his again made him feel as though he had found an oasis after traversing the desert for so long. It didn’t make sense, as it had only been the night before that they had last kissed and made love, but when did things to do with the heart ever have logic?

“I want you,” Sebastian said breathlessly, pressing kisses on Ming Xiao’s cheek, down her jaw and neck. “I want to take you away from this despicable city, away from your ungrateful Wu and find a quiet place to spend-”

“No!” Ming Xiao’s point-blank refusal caught him off guard, and he looked into her eyes, seeing a renewed determination in them. “No, Sebastian, I can’t abandon my duty nor my Wu, ungrateful as they may be. As their Ancestor, I must guide them and weather them through this storm Los Angeles has proven itself to be.”

“But what if it’s all pointless Ming? What if the Age of Sorrow is really upon us, and it’s too late to stop it? You must have seen the signs, the storms, the red star and the ridiculous amount of Caitiff and Thinbloods that roam the city? Gehenna is coming soon, and I don’t want to waste time trying to make this unruly city mine anymore, not when I wish to spend what time I have left with you!” Sebastian knew that Ming Xiao would hate him for repeating the same defeatist talk that the Bodhisattvas back home had; in a way he hated himself all the more for losing all hope.

However, Ming Xiao did something worse than despise Sebastian for his weakness. She pitied him! “What happened to the man that mocked that sort of thinking?”

He hung his head down in shame, she was right, what had happened to him? It seemed that accepting that the sarcophagus could doom them all and seeing the signs had truly broken him. Or perhaps revealed that he had already been broken all along?

Ming Xiao’s warm hand cupped Sebastian’s jaw. Lifting his gaze he could see a kind smile on her lips, “I have seen those signs for myself, Sebastian and have felt the same hopelessness you are feeling now, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. It means we have to make this fight count more than ever, we can overcome this and we will!” Her strong, determined words made it all seem so easy, they could stop Gehenna from coming! But how? It wasn’t as though simply taking over Los Angeles alone would be enough.

 _Then again there is the Ankaran sarcophagus that needs to be dealt with…_ A part of Sebastian did still want to take the ancient’s power for himself, but the ever-growing realisation that it wasn’t worth it anymore was squashing that desire little by little. His obsession with the cursed thing was ruining his life and had almost made him squander the one thing that truly mattered to him in this whole world. Ming Xiao had been right when she had said that the sarcophagus was a get-rich-quick scheme! How could he have been so foolish?

Sebastian warmed his blood and placed his hand over hers, “Do you think if we found the sarcophagus and disposed of it, it would prevent Gehenna from coming true or at least delay it?” _It would at least alleviate the constant pressure we’ve all been feeling surely._

“It would be a start. Once the sarcophagus has been dealt with, we have to focus on driving all those who disregard our rule out of the city,” Ming Xiao said, pressing a small kiss on his lips, “And, as I’ve said before, those who are left remaining we will teach, show them a better way. That will have the biggest affect on our world over time.”

 _Yes, we can build such a future together!_ “Then that’s settled, I have an agent seeking out the sarcophagus, once they have brought it to me then we’ll destroy it, and in the meantime I’ll work on plans to sabotage and drive out the Sabbat!” Sebastian could feel himself grow more confident with this plan, it was soothing his fears away.

Ming Xiao grinned, her jade green eyes lighting up, “That’s wonderful, do tell me more about your plans for the downfall of the Sabbat!”

“Oh, I will but first, ma cherie, I wish to kiss you again!” Sebastian wrapped his arms around Ming Xiao and kissed her lovingly. Again he felt as though he could never get enough of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we are entering the AU part of this fic, yay LaCroix can now begin to make good choices! XD


	14. Time for tears and hunters

After pressing kisses on Ming Xiao’s lips, cheeks and neck, Sebastian felt himself so overcome with a myriad of emotions, that he had to stop and hold her against him tightly. It was all too much, all this needful lust, desperation, longing and fear of what he had gotten himself into, it made his whole body shiver uncontrollably.

Here he was on this beach, finally understanding the sarcophagus wasn’t worth it, and that he could possibly build something grand with Ming Xiao. And yet a niggling feeling of panicked doubts began to plague him, making him question whether Ming Xiao had truly meant everything she had said, and whether he really ever would be able to rule side by side with her. Sebastian had been constantly aware of the gulf of power and experience between Ming Xiao and himself, never mind her ruling by his side, how could he ever hope to truly measure up to her, to show that he really was worthy of ruling this city together?

In the eyes of Ming Xiao’s fellow elder Kuei-jin, Sebastian knew he’d be seen as nothing more than a child or, worse yet, a pet, only fit for her amusement! Perhaps that was how Ming Xiao had sold their alliance to her people. But did she see him that way as well? Sebastian didn’t think so or rather did not want to believe it was the case. After all, would she be willing to show such open emotion to him if he were just a plaything for her amusement?

Was he inadvertently walking into a trap? What if, after he and Ming Xiao dealt with the Sabbat and the Anarchs, she turned around and had him disposed of? And even if getting rid of him wasn’t part of the plan, would he instead become in Ming Xiao’s eyes only fit to polish her shoes? Annoyingly, that last point held some sick sexual appeal, even though logically he would loath such an existence for himself.

But regardless of how Ming Xiao really felt about him, Sebastian knew that working on his plans to eradicate the Sabbat, would be his chance to prove to her and her people that he could be a capable co-leader fit to be at her side.

“Sebastian, are you alright?” Ming Xiao’s gentle voice cut straight through his thoughts. He looked into her eyes, gazing back at him with concern. Was she afraid that he had gotten himself lost in his previous obsession with the sarcophagus again? Or did she notice that he was overwhelmed with doubts?

“How do you mean, ma cherie?” he asked before placing a small kiss onto her forehead and stroking her hair.

She smiled contently, her eyes becoming relaxed, “You weren’t kissing me anymore and you seemed to be so sad and lost in thought,” Ming Xiao said simply, “What were you thinking about?”

Sebastian froze, unsure how much he should reveal of the doubts he was suffering from. What could he say without making her believe that he questioned everything they had together, even though that was a part of his fears.

“Sebastian, please don’t leave me to interpret your feelings like this,” Ming Xiao chided, tipping up his chin with her finger.

Sebastian inadvertently swallowed, a part of him did want to surrender another piece of vulnerability that he often kept hidden, but it didn’t change the fact of how hard it was for him to do so. And yet despite how difficult it was for him normally, the words seemed to easily slip out of his lips, “I suppose, I’m wondering if I’m even worthy of ruling Los Angeles by your side. My power and my years of experience are nothing compared to yours.”

Ming Xiao traced her finger along Sebastian’s jaw, “Is that why you had wanted the Ankaran sarcophagus so badly? To make yourself worthy in my eyes?” she asked sombrely.

Sebastian laughed bitterly, “Mostly it was so I could keep my position as Prince, honestly I know there are those who would love to see me fall over the smallest mistake!” He glanced down at Ming Xiao’s face, her jade green eyes filled with unusual sympathy. Of course, she of all people in this city understood having to deal with constant criticisms from fools thinking they knew best. “But in a way, yes, I did want it so I would be worthy of being by your side, Ming. Although, even then, I feared that having such great power wouldn’t even be enough.”

Ming Xiao sighed softly, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, their foreheads touching, “Sebastian, admitting your mistakes and wanting to do what is necessary to right them, is what makes you worthy in my eyes. Yes, you have a lot to learn, my dear, but the willingness to learn and grow as a being, that is the most important thing in this world.”

Sebastian’s body shook with a sudden feeling of relief as he squeezed her closer to himself. He could almost feel tears threatening to seep out of the corners of his eyes with how overcome he was, yet he couldn’t just cry like this, not merely out of fear for seeming weak to Ming Xiao, but also because he didn’t want the possibility of staining his or her clothes with his bloody tears.

Ming Xiao tutted, “Sebastian, please don’t try to keep a ‘stiff upper lip’, it’s more irritating to have to see you keep your emotions in than you letting them out. So please, just allow yourself to cry, after all, you’ve seen me burst into tears tonight!” She pressed an encouraging kiss on Sebastian’s cheek.

That did it, having been granted permission to allow himself to cry, Sebastian took in a deep breath and let himself go without fear of being mocked or viewed as less. He expected to release a great dam of tears after so many years of not showing such weakness however it was a mere cold stream of blood that actually came pouring down his cheeks. Sebastian sniffed slightly as he pulled out a handkerchief to quickly wipe it away, feeling slightly alien for crying in front of another person who wasn’t his dearly departed mother.

“There we go, how does that make you feel, dear?” Ming Xiao asked with a smile, her fingers brushing through his hair.

“It feels strange, normally I can control my emotions rather well but lately-,” he paused, it seemed almost shameful to acknowledge that these past weeks he had lost his temper rather easily. Truthfully, it had likely appeared to those who had witnessed it more like a child’s temper tantrums than righteous rage. “But embarrassingly, I fear, I must be making a fool of myself in front of my subordinates!” Sebastian admitted with a cringed chuckle.

Ming Xiao sighed and pecked him on the cheek, “Oh, Sebastian, my dear, you have spent too much time with the English and Americans! All that constant unnecessary repression of your emotions, even in your own home, has been so awful for you!”

“Oh, it didn’t get so bad until around the 1880s! Or was it the 1900s?” Sebastian questioned himself thoughtfully, feeling annoyed that he couldn’t quite remember exactly when men in England had begun to feel the need to keep a stiff upper lip all the time. Then again, it wasn’t just living in England and America for years that had made him disciplined in keeping his emotions tightly controlled, he had long before learned to as an officer in Napoleon’s army and from the ‘lessons’ his sire had given him after his embrace…

Ming Xiao’s face screwed up with distaste, “Ugh, even before the 1900s the English I met have always been like that, so concerned with hiding their true feelings. All it does is make a dam of emotion that will soon burst at the worst of times!” She then let out a sigh, obviously remembering that she had not too long ago had an emotional blowout herself, “Of course, I know that I cannot talk but I do try to make sure to not lose myself in front of my Wu.”

“And yet you have no problems with showing your emotions with me…” Sebastian hoped that he didn’t sound accusatory and was about clarify himself, when Ming Xiao pressed her mouth against his, kissing him desperately for a moment before pulling away.

“I suppose,” she began breathlessly, “that you have a way of making me feel…comfortable enough to express myself with you, Sebastian.”

Sebastian licked his lips, “I believe that you also have that quality as well, Ming.” _Ming Xiao does, doesn’t she? Is that why I had next to no problems walking into the very heart of her temple, let alone spending the day there?_ Such an odd thing to realise, and yet it brought a warmth to his cold, dead heart. Of course, if he was willing to rule the city with her then it made sense that he felt comfortable in her company as well.

With the acknowledgment of their comfortableness with each other, a silence fell between them, the only sounds around them the waves crashing onto the sand and the distant traffic. It wasn’t so much awkward, as filled with the uncertainty of where they would go from here.

Then Sebastian remembered that he did have to work on the plans for the Sabbat, so unless there was more Ming Xiao wanted to do or say then he’d better get on it right away. Taking a quick glance at his watch told him that they only had a few hours before sunrise. “Ma cherie, shall we go back into town? I believe we only have a few hours left before dawn.”

“Well, shall we go back to my place again? I would enjoy to have your company for the rest of the night,” Ming Xiao whispered in his ear with a purr, her hands reaching down to cup and squeeze his buttocks.

Sebastian laughed, “Of course, I do believe that I have half an evening to make up for!” he declared, kissing along Ming Xiao’s jaw.

“Oh, Sebastian, I don’t know if you’ve truly convinced me of that yet!” she teased, tipping her head to the side to allow him more access to her neck.

“Touché, ma cherie, I will convince you yet!” he replied with a grin.

The moment Sebastian and Ming Xiao left Long beach and stepped back into the city streets, he could feel that someone or something had their eyes on them. But even with Sebastian scanning the busy crowds of Kine with his heightened senses, he couldn’t quite pinpoint their observer. He had been about to whisper his concerns to Ming Xiao, when she suddenly tightly squeezed his hand and gestured behind them with her eyes. Discreetly turning to look back, he could see what looked to be a middle-aged woman with a horribly scarred face and an incredibly piercing-look in her eyes staring back at them. Despite her wearing clothing that more befitted someone who had for a long time been forced to resort to seeking shelter in the darkened alleyways of Los Angeles, the scent that clung to her was akin to someone who had the privilege of bathing anytime they wished. So either this woman was newly homeless, or perhaps had kindly been gifted access to amenities to wash herself, or, the third, more likely possibility, given the way she was staring at them as though she was able to see beyond the surface, she was wearing a disguise. _A hunter or a Magi? If it’s a Magi we cannot be caught out alone with her! But if she’s a hunter, then there is a possibility that she could be part of the Society of Leopold, and there are others close by, waiting for her to give the signal!_

Sebastian carefully gave Ming Xiao a look, and she nodded, pulling him into a side alley. He could see Ming Xiao’s whole body quickly shift into the form of the bartender from the Red Dragon. Thankfully, it happened so fast that Sebastian didn’t have time to take in all the sight of the sickening way the skin, muscle and bone shifted around. Ming Xiao turned to him, and whispered, “Do you have a weapon on you?”

Sebastian nodded, opening his suit jacket slightly to show her the small revolver he was carrying. If Ming Xiao approved or disapproved of his choice of firearm, he couldn’t tell from the quick glance she took at the revolver before looking forward and backward towards both entrances to the alleyway. Ming Xiao’s eyes then settled on a heavily graffitied dumpster, and she pointed it out to Sebastian with her thumb. He winced at the idea of having to hide amongst the stinking garbage and get his finery all dirty, but one must do what is needed.

Sebastian rushed to the dumpster, pulling open the lid. Luckily for him, inside were only a couple of garbage bags, a few empty crushed cans of soda pop and beer and one banana peel, plenty of room to hide without having to deal with too much of an awful stench. After getting inside and closing the lid, Sebastian pulled out his revolver, took the safety off and listened carefully.

At first there wasn’t much sound outside of the chattering of kine walking past and distant traffic, but then he heard a set of footsteps approaching Ming Xiao and a voice talking to her in a Southern accent, Texan, he gathered. “Hello, young man, I was wondering if you could spare me a dollar or two. It would help me so much.”

“Of course, these nights sure have been rough lately,” Ming Xiao replied in that awfully annoying nasally tone the bartender had. Faraway heavy footsteps rushing towards them perked up Sebastian’s ears, followed by the sound of swords being drawn and safeties taken off.

“I think my luck is turning around tonight, can’t say the same for you though,” the woman joked. As Sebastian quickly lifted the lid of the dumpster, aiming and firing at the back of the heads of two men surrounding Ming Xiao, he saw her latch onto the woman’s arm tight.

The scared huntress’ face became red and her demeanour more of a manic rage as she struggled against Ming Xiao’s grip, her free hand attempting to claw frantically at the Kuei-jin. Her eyes looked wild and animalistic, as though she was frenzying.

“Actually, I do believe that Lady Luck is not smiling upon you this night, especially more so, since you are handling the increase of Yang rather worse than most mortals,” Ming Xiao said with a smirk. Again it was so odd to hear her voice coming out of the bartender’s form. “But, as amusing as this is to see you flail around like a feral kitten, if I want to get any answers from you, I’ll have get you to calm down.”

The huntress soon stopped struggling and clawing at Ming Xiao, her eyes no longer looking wild and wrathful but now more tired and melancholy. “What have you done to me? Why am I so tired now?” she cried out before slumping forward.

“I’ve just given you some Yin. Now, why don’t you tell who you are with, hmm?”

“Oh, like heck I will, you demon witch!” the huntress spat out with some newly found energy, “If you think I’m going to be saying squat, then you gotta another thing coming, missy!” With her free arm she reached inside her heavy coat, pulling out a crucifix and shoving it in Ming Xiao’s unimpressed face, “Begone demon!”

Despite the lack of fear in Ming Xiao, Sebastian could see that, whilst she wasn’t shrinking back in terror, her lips were quirking downward. Perhaps it affected her a lot more than she liked. Sebastian felt anger rise inside him at the audacity of this fanatic to even try do this to Ming Xiao and he aimed his revolver at her, ready to silence this fool and her dogmatic ramblings for good.

However, just as he was about to pull the trigger, Ming Xiao gripped onto the huntress’ throat and lifted her up before tossing her onto the ground. The huntress barely had a chance to move a muscle before Ming Xiao quickly slammed her foot down onto her throat, effectively crushing it. After a few well placed stamps on what was left of the woman’s throat, Ming Xiao kicked away the crucifix, then turned to look at Sebastian and sighed, “Ughh, Christians and Christian hunters at that, such a nuisance!” she said with a groan.

Sebastian smiled and climbed out of the dumpster. “You will get no disagreement from me, ma cher-”

He was interrupted by a hot, searing pain in his back, and the smell of burning and smoke filled his nostrils, starting to fuel the frenzied panic that made the beast frantically claw at him, desperate to come out. But Sebastian held his nerve, holding back his frenzy as he tumbled forward onto the ground, twisting around to aim his revolver at his attacker. A young red-haired woman, dressed in body armour, was wielding a flaming torch and charging towards him, shouting all the usual inanities that typically came spewing out of a dogmatic’s mouth. Sebastian fired, hitting her arm, but sadly that didn’t seem to slow her down much, the adrenaline and her religious rage must’ve been enough for her to ignore the pain. With her and the flame almost on top of him, Sebastian quickly spat out a command for her to stop. Thankfully, she halted, her eyes glazed.

The young huntress’ eyes didn’t remain glazed for long as suddenly, a large tentacle reached out and wrapped itself tightly around her neck. Dropping the flaming torch onto the ground, the young woman’s eyes bulged, and the skin of her face turned purplish, the only sounds coming from her mouth being choked gasps. Finally, the young woman’s torment was over when the tentacle effortlessly snapped her neck and let her lifeless body fall to the ground. Sebastian sheepishly turned around, out of both incredible awe and fear of the power he had witnessed, but nothing could have prepared him for the wondrous sight he soon beheld.

Ming Xiao had transformed herself into a burnished pink-skinned, ten-foot monstrosity of Eldrich proportions with the face of a cuttlefish filled with several beady eyes which peered at him and six large tentacled arms. As she moved towards him, Sebastian could not help noticing how the lower half of her monstrous form moved much like a slug, his eyes glueing to the movement grooves. As Ming Xiao loomed over him, his breathing quickened and his blood flowed to his heart, causing it to beat rapidly. Sebastian had not seen such an incredibly powerful warform since Kamau’s batform or the Tzimisce warforms during his short time in the Sabbat. He struggled to move to his feet, feeling a great sense of fear and awe for Ming Xiao and even more worthless compared to her, yet also touched that she had bothered to save him.

Two of Ming Xiao’s slimy wet tentacles wrapped around Sebastian’s arms, lifting him gently up to his feet and she bent her head down to his face, peering at him before turning him around. He winced in pain, remembering the burns he had suffered earlier from the torch’s flames. “It’s alright, my Fortitude caught the worst of it, and the wound will heal up given time and blood,” Sebastian quickly reassured her as he felt the suckers underneath Ming Xiao’s tentacle carefully circle around the burn. He hated to think how it must’ve looked, did it seem as bad as it had felt?

“She deserved a slower, more painful death...” Ming Xiao mused coldly, her voice more echoey than normal, giving Sebastian the impression that he was being spoken to in his mind, even though he knew it wasn’t the case.

Sebastian turned to face her, still unable to get over the incredible might and sheer power Ming Xiao’s warform had exuded. Smiling, he placed his hands on her tentacles and rested his face against her chest, “Never mind her, they’ll always be another dogmatic fool that needs culling another time.” Gazing up at her face, he swore that somehow, even in her warform, she smiled back at him.


	15. New friends

Shifting back into human form for Ming Xiao was a slow and painful ordeal, just as it always had been ever since the very first time she had used the Demon Shintai discipline. It was always a risk to use her Demon Art, since there was a chance she would lose herself to the P’o or attract unwanted attention from the Yama Kings. It had been especially stupid to take such a foolish risk tonight since her demon form hadn’t been needed in such a simple fight.

But she hadn’t been able to think clearly when she had seen that young huntress burning Sebastian’s back and causing him to tumble onto the ground, it had been almost instinctual to transform herself, hearing the P’o whisper harshly, ** _Kill her, kill her! Make her suffer for even daring to think that she’s even worthy of harming this worthless, little Cainite!_** Oh, Ming Xiao had been in agreement with her P’o on that one! But she had restrained herself from giving the hateful little huntress the torture she deserved in the effort not to lose herself to the P’o completely, and her concern for Sebastian’s safety had her merely snap the huntress’ neck.

Her demon form should have made Sebastian recoil from her with pure terror, yet he had held his nerve or at the very least had been too in awe of her power. It had pleased Ming Xiao greatly that not only he was able to admire the strength of her Demon form but also felt safe enough to embrace her.

Glancing back again at the horrible burns on Sebastian’s back as he made a phone call to his people to clear up the mess, had made Ming Xiao feel a furious rage at the young huntress she had just killed, she really had been too kind in giving her a quick death. And Ming Xiao wasn’t entirely convinced by Sebastian’s assurances that his discipline had soaked most of the damage the flaming torch had caused, not from how awfully painful it looked. She knew that he was right, that it would take time for it heal up, but she found herself wishing that there was something she could do to speed up the process.

There was one way, those who were trained in the Blood Shintai discipline could heal the damage the flames had caused, but Ming Xiao hated the idea of even having to ask one of her Wu for their assistance. She was sure it could cause unwanted problems again, although perhaps she could spin it as getting Sebastian to tr-

 _Of course, surely that’s what I’m doing in the first place? Have Sebastian come to trust me until I don’t need him anymore? There’s no possibility that I can truly keep him for myself without consequences, he wouldn’t be accepted amongst our kind, unless…_ Ming Xiao quickly shut down that dangerous thought in time for Sebastian to get off the phone and turn back towards to her.

“Well, I’ve sent for a clean-up crew, in less than an hour no-one will know that a fight has taken place in this alleyway,” he winced slightly, “I’ve also called for a car to pick us up, I’m afraid that I’ll have to get back to my haven- ”

“I have someone who can help heal your wounds quicker.” The words just slipped out of Ming Xiao’s mouth.

Sebastian stared at her with a perplexed look in his eyes before letting out a chuckle, “Of course, you would have, Ming Xiao. You have yet to cease to amaze me when it comes to the powers your people have cultivated!”

Ming Xiao felt a little bristled at Sebastian’s comment. Even though he had meant it as a compliment, it had felt wrong somehow, as though he was implying it was an inherent quality of the Kuei-jin. Yes, the Kuei-jin were clearly superior to Kindred, but it was only because they had been willing to cultivate a variety of disciplines rather than toss away the most useful ones based on mere rumours, like the Kindred had done to their own healing clan. “Well, if your kind hadn’t decided to listen to the lies of a clan that had stolen their power from other Kindred, then you would have just as many healers yourself!” Ming Xiao stated sharply, “But instead, your kind decided to believe those lies the despicable blood magi spat out to justify their slayings of Saulot’s childer!” Perhaps it wasn’t fair to be so condemning towards Sebastian for his ignorance, but she felt the need to point out this truth to him.

Sebastian huffed loudly, “Excuse me?!? But the Salubri were soul stealers, pretending to be healers to take advantage of other Kindred’s lowered guards!” Despite his repeating of the awful propaganda that had brought so many of the Salubri to their final death out of fear and hate, his voice did hold a slight hint of doubt.

Ming Xiao laughed bitterly, crossing her arms, and shaking her head at him, “And may I repeat the sort of character that the Tremere were previously shown to have, Sebastian? I have heard some truly dreadful rumours about them.”

His lips tightened into a thin line, and his brows furrowed together, “I too have heard those grisly tales of the clan’s past sins, but the Tremere have ceased those awful rites of theirs for centuries now.” Again, Sebastian didn’t sound entirely convinced by his own words, “The Tremere that are still likely continuing their vile acts are in the Sabbat, Goratrix’s ill-begotten lot!” During that last sentence however, he sounded much more sure of himself.

“That may be so Sebastian, but surely you do see the wastefulness of your kind’s actions, of how much you were deprived by the loss of the knowledge that the Salubri had?”

Sebastian’s eyes darted away from hers, his face showing how uncomfortable he was, “Well, we Kindred have gained much from the Tremere’s research and powers.”

Ming Xiao sneered a little. Yes, it was true that the Kindred had benefited much from the Tremere’s knowledge, and it must’ve given them much better protection from the incredibly powerful Magi, even if it was horribly distasteful to Ming Xiao and especially to all Kuei-jin, how the Tremere fuelled their spells with enormous amounts of blood. “Yes, you have, but surely, could you not have gained even more by having the Tremere and Salubri at your side, Sebastian? You all could be so much more if you hadn’t let yourself become so ignorant due to lies.”

Sebastian practically growled at her words, his gaze filled with a mixture of irritation, questioning and then, finally, despair. “If what you say about the Salubri is true…” he swallowed, looking so terribly troubled that it caused Ming Xiao to regret getting into this discussion in the first place. But then he shook his head, his face burying away how disturbed he was feeling, “Oh, this is pointless! Whether the Salubri are innocent healers or not is a moot point since they all have been wiped out! I don’t even understand why we are even having this conversation- ”

He was interrupted by the car horn blaring from the alleyway entrance. Sebastian sighed and straightened his tie, “Well, our ride is here, shall we go? I have to admit that I am curious about this healer you have.”

*

Sebastian felt apprehension and uneasiness rolling around in his gut as the limo drew closer and closer to Chinatown, although it wasn’t necessarily to do with the idea of having to spend another night at the Temple compound but rather with the thought of this ‘healer’ Ming Xiao had in mind; Sebastian was both utterly fascinated and unnerved.

Visions of all the possible strange rituals that might take place rose up in Sebastian’s mind. But given how Ming Xiao’s face had shown great disgust whenever speaking of the Tremere, any rite that the healer could possibly do wouldn’t likely be anywhere near as bloody as any ritual performed by the clan of the Usurpers. He thought many times during the trip to ask Ming Xiao what this visit to her healer could entail, but it seemed that his tongue was unusually tied and he felt that even to ask a reasonable question would be too bothersome for her.

Or perhaps it was due to how his mind seemed to be swirling around the possibility that the Salubri clan had been truly innocent of the Tremere’s accusations all along and unjustly hunted down to extinction. Sebastian didn’t understand why this was bothering him so much, the Tremere weren’t the first ones to steal another powerful vampire’s soul to solidify their clan’s power nor would they be the last, and to be honest, he would be a hypocrite to gawk self-righteously at the Tremere’s crime given his own history with diablerie. And frankly if the Salubri were truly the kind-hearted healers they had presented themselves to be, then their only real crime had been lacking the ability to survive the conflicts of Kindred politics. They had had no chance, and thus it shouldn’t have been a surprise that they were wiped out. To truly survive, they should’ve made connections with the other clans to gain themselves support or at the very least protection, or embraced warriors, creating a subgroup within the clan like the Setites or Banu Haqim had done. But maybe the Salubri had embraced warriors and appealed to the other clans for help, and it still hadn’t been enough…

However, it still didn’t explain why hearing from Ming Xiao that the Tremere had likely lied about the clan of the third-eyed healers had disturbed him so much. It wasn’t as though this was the first time he had had this discussion. Back when he had still been in the Sabbat he had heard talk of the Salubri being a victim of the Tremere’s deadly slandering, but upon joining the Camarilla he had begun to dismiss it as purely the anti-Camarilla nonsense the Sabbat loved to spew all over the place. But to be fair, having since spent over a hundred years with the Camarilla, he now knew that the Sabbat weren’t completely full of it…

Maybe it was the idea that the Camarilla had inadvertently weakened themselves by allowing the Tremere to spread lies and call out blood hunts on any Salubri discovered wandering in their cities. It was sickening to think of the useful powers and potential they could’ve had if they had only gotten at least some Salubri onto their side, although maybe it would have been impossible to convince any Salubri to join the Camarilla, considering the fact the Tremere were a huge part of the sect, and no pretty words would have been enough to convince the two clans to make peace.

And the Camarilla did owe a lot to the Tremere, so perhaps turning a blind eye on their founder’s crimes was a reasonable compromise, even at the cost of the Salubri’s incredibly useful healing abilities. Surprising and sad, in a funny way, that the Anarchs hadn’t really given mention to the Tremere’s crimes as a reason to fight against the Camarilla. You would think so, considering how self-righteous they liked to be. Maybe the Tremere’s lies had worked so well that even the Anarchs had forgotten about the possible injustices the Salubri had endured…

But it seemed pointless to continue these wonderings, for Sebastian knew he wouldn’t be getting any answers anytime soon. He instead glanced at Ming Xiao, who was sitting quietly next to him. With clear tension furrowing her eyebrows together and her lips pressing themselves into a thin line, it appeared that he wasn’t the only one on edge. But about what, he couldn’t say, yet a niggling thought poked into his mind that it had something to do with the healer he was about to meet.

Was something awful about to happen to him the moment they got to the compound, and that was why her face was filled with tension? No, if that was the case she’d never ever let him know there was anything wrong. She had, after all, had ample opportunity to dispose of him in that alleyway earlier after the fight with the hunters, and Sebastian knew from witnessing her amazingly unbelievable warform that if Ming Xiao had wanted him dead, she could have done it before he would even have had a chance to react.

And well, he could tell from how Ming Xiao had saved him from that huntress, the worried looks she had given him, and her insistence in taking him to a healer, that it was his safety that was her concern. It was touching really, and he wished he could find a better way to show his gratitude for her caring. Sebastian brought his hand towards Ming Xiao’s and gently clasped it, giving her a soft smile when she turned to face him, smiling back.

“We’re nearly coming up to your temple,” was all Sebastian could manage to say, it seemed that any thanks he had to give had gotten stuck in his throat. Even though he had embraced her in her warform, he felt he hadn’t done enough to show his thanks for her saving his unlife. Not that he had needed her help, he had, after all, managed to dominate the huntress into halting her attack on him, but he appreciated it immensely. “I have to say that I’m eager to meet your healer.”

“Good. How is your back at the moment?” Ming Xiao asked as she brought her hand up to gently caress the back of his shoulder, careful to not touch the stinging burns on his back.

“It’ll be better when your healer gets to work on me, I imagine,” Sebastian said with a slight wince, he didn’t want to let on how annoyingly painful the burns were. He had, after all, suffered from way, way worse burns in the past. “Speaking of which, I do believe we are practically there,” he pointed out as the entrance to Chinatown came into full view.

Ming Xiao soothingly rubbed Sebastian’s shoulder. “And I also imagine that you would like to have a bath as well afterwards.” He cringed at being reminded that he had hidden in a dumpster earlier, it must’ve shown on his face as she was chuckling light-heartedly, “Oh Sebastian, I didn’t mean to imply that your scent is that ghastly, but rather I meant you might want to relax by soaking in a warm bath. I know that’s what I’ll be doing after having to deal with those pests.”

Even so, Sebastian quickly and discreetly sniffed himself. It wasn’t that bad since there hadn’t been a lot of garbage, but he wasn’t smelling as fresh as he would’ve liked either. “I think a nice relaxing bath is in order, especially if we can bathe together, that is…” he said with a smirk and kissed Ming Xiao’s hand.

Ming Xiao chuckled, “But of course, my dear Sebastian, it would be the perfect end to our little outing.” Her fingertips brushed under his chin before slowly bringing his face closer to hers and then pressing a soft kiss onto his lips.

Before Sebastian had a chance to pull Ming Xiao close to him and show her how much he needed her, she drew back, her lips turned upwards in a smirk, “Let’s get you patched up then,” she said as the limo parked just outside the entrance to Chinatown.

Walking alongside Ming Xiao through the compound didn’t hold nearly the same level of intimidation as it had the first time. While the guards were still keeping a watchful eye on Sebastian, they were no longer gazing at him as an intruder but more as a guest, given how most of them gave slight bows as they walked passed, though it was more likely they were showing respect for their mistress than for him. For all he knew they didn’t consider him anymore harmful than a kitten, and compared to Ming Xiao, they would be right in that regard. But Sebastian suspected that this ease he felt going down the hallways with Ming Xiao was the knowledge that as long she showed him favour, no harm would come to him in this place.

This feeling of complete safety in Ming Xiao’s company touched him deep inside, but he wished that he could make her feel the same way when she walked through his tower. His mind brought forth childish imaginings of the both of them walking together side by side through Ventrue tower, his Ventrue agents giving Ming Xiao quiet, respectful bows as they passed by, and her knowing that she was safe in his protection. Stupid really, he knew from her little intrusion into his tower, that she never felt unsafe in his domain, rather she had only disguised her form to save herself wasteful conflicts with his men.

Perhaps his need to make her feel safe was an attempt to bring some level of equality to this relationship between them. Yet Sebastian knew that it was hopeless, for as long there was this great gulf of power between the two of them he would have to get used to the lack of equality and accept the fact that he was the weakest one in this relationship. It was oddly depressing to him to acknowledge it though, having been no stranger to relying upon Kamau’s fiercely powerful strength to protect him. Was it because his and Ming Xiao’s relationship was romantic or that she was a woman? How pathetic if either one was the case! But was it so simple, maybe he just wanted to share this wonderful feeling with her?

They stepped inside a small room containing a couple of chairs and a wooden table with various tools. Sebastian felt his skin prickle up a little as he gazed upon a beautifully detailed bronze Buddha statue. The longer he stared at the statue the more he felt the sense of how wrong his existence had been even before his embrace-

“Sebastian?” Ming Xiao’s voice and the warm touch of her hand on his shoulder shook him out of his downward spiralling trance. Sebastian quickly pulled his gaze away from the Buddha statue and turned to face her, the horrible existential crisis fading away from his mind.

She led him by the arm towards the table and chairs, unnecessarily helping him take a seat before she sat down herself. “What did you feel when you gazed upon the Buddha, Sebastian?” Ming Xiao asked, her voice filled with sympathy and genuine curiosity.

“As though I’ve always lived my life wrongly and that- ” Sebastian paused, the words becoming hard to find, “I don’t know, to be honest, but it’s not like being in a truly holy place, where I feel nothing but pain and complete hopelessness.”

“It forces you to see what is wrong and challenges you to find a better path, is that what you mean?” Ming Xiao gently took Sebastian’s hands into her own and gave them a squeeze.

Sebastian glanced at the Buddha statue again, bracing himself for the worst. He felt the same awful knowledge that everything was wrong with him and yet he also sensed a tiny piece of hope, a way to make up for his wronged existence. But the longer he stared at the statue, he began to feel the pain of his wrongness, and that even if there was any hope of finding some peace, his path wasn’t here…

He quickly tore his eyes away from the statue and back to Ming Xiao, feeling a sense of relief upon looking at her. “I suppose, but if there’s any way for me to find a better path then it’s not with Buddhism.”

Ming Xiao turned to look at the Buddha statue before giving Sebastian a thoughtful look. Unlike him, she didn’t seem affected. “Interesting, would you find it with Christianity perhaps?”

Sebastian chuckled darkly, “No, absolutely not, it has only brought me pain in both my mortal and immortal life.” Ming Xiao didn’t say anything but gave him a simple nod of understanding and another squeeze of his hand.

Wanting to get away from the heavy topic of religion, Sebastian had been about to ask Ming Xiao when she was going to send for the healer when the door opened and a young Asian man with shoulder length black hair and a horrible burn scar covering the bottom left half of his face and neck poked his head inside, looking at the both of them with confusion.

After a few seconds, the young man’s mystified look changed to awkwardness, as though he had noticed that he had stumbled in while they were in the middle of having a moment. “Should I come back or- ”

“No, Li, come inside and heal Prince LaCroix’s back wound.” Ming Xiao’s commanding tone halted Li in his tracks, and he obediently opened the door fully and walked inside.

Upon Li entering, Sebastian could feel his enthusiasm to have the Kuei-jin healing arts performed on him die by the second the longer he stared at the yellow mustard stain on Li’s olive green cargo trousers.

_But what had I been expecting, an old, wizened man dressed in traditional ancient Chinese robes, eyes filled with the wisdom of ages? Perhaps I shouldn’t have been holding onto such stereotypes. For all I, know he could be much older than I and his sheepishness only due to being ordered by his mistress._

Though if that were the case then Li was hiding his true age remarkably well with that boyish nervous grin. “Oh yeah, umm…could you take off your jacket and shirt please, Mr Prince LaCroix?” Scratch that, most elders weren’t willing to swallow their pride that much to hide themselves, it was clear this Li was a neonate Kuei-jin.

Sebastian quickly did as he was asked, removing his jacket and dress shirt, trying not to smile back at Ming Xiao when her lips quirked upwards at the sight of his naked chest. He was hopeful that this healing wouldn’t take too long, and they could make love again tonight before the rising dawn.

Rough, calloused fingers gently touched around the burn on his back, “Fuck, how did you get that- ”  
“Li, language please, Prince LaCroix is our guest and does not need to hear vulgarities!” Ming Xiao hissed harshly. Again Li showed his obedience and muttered his apologies to Sebastian.

He gave a gracious nod to Li in return. “It is no trouble to me at all.” Especially since the curse word was not negatively directed at him, like it would have been if it were an Anarch shouting at him, “And this wound was caused by a rather audacious huntress from a hunter pack we encountered this evening.”

Li winced sympathetically, placing his hand fully onto Sebastian’s wound. “Oh man, that’s bad! Yeah, I’ve been hearing that hunters are getting more bold these nights!” Li’s hand became warmer, and Sebastian could feel the burn very slowly subside and his undead flesh knit together again. He kept himself still with great discipline so as not to give into the urge to itch his healing wound.

“It is no doubt the fault of the reckless Anarchs that have brought about more hunter attention,” Ming Xiao stated with disgust.

Sebastian nodded in agreement with her, yet he wondered if the hunters’ boldness in Los Angles wasn’t also due to Bach finally tracking him here. The sudden feeling that it could be all his fault was sickening to him, he had been extremely careful throughout the decades, and yet it seemed that the Bach family was determined to dog his every step! _Yet another thing, we- I have to deal with, as if I don’t have enough on my plate! Well, Ming Xiao and I will have to talk about this-_

“It’s an unfortunate problem we’ll have to discuss tomorrow night,” Ming Xiao said, her fingers lightly patting his hand, in a way unknowingly finishing Sebastian’s thought.

Li then spoke with concern in his voice, however, it was not in English but rather Mandarin, which made the suspicions Sebastian had before return, although they were halted for the moment when Ming Xiao shot Li an annoyed look and said in English, “No, I do not wish to have a meeting tonight, it is too close to dawn. We will have it tomorrow.” Of course, this talk about having a meeting with likely her Wu about the situation with the hunters could have been a ruse to have his suspicions falsely dispelled.

The door opened before Sebastian’s paranoia fully took hold of him again, revealing a gentle-looking woman who sounded exactly as she appeared when speaking to Ming Xiao, also in Mandarin. Ming Xiao’s lips pressed together in a thin line, her jade green eyes sharpening as she replied.

Once the woman left them alone, Ming Xiao got up from her seat and turned to Sebastian, explaining, “My apologises, Sebastian, but it is a very important matter that I need to discuss right away.”

“Of course, as Prince, I completely understand,” Sebastian assured her.

Ming Xiao smiled gratefully at him before directing her gaze to Li. “Li, when you have finished healing Prince LaCroix, please escort him to my personal chambers.” The harshness in her eyes no doubt shut down any objections the younger Kuei-jin might have.

“I-I, sure, Mistress, I’ll make sure of it,” Li stammered.

The moment Ming Xiao left the room and closed the door behind her, he began to really feel the pure vulnerability of being left alone and at the mercy of an unknown person, especially a member of her Wu. She’d told him her Wu disapproved of his presence. Again, he could not help thinking about how this Li’s seemingly shy nature was all a ploy for Sebastian to lower his guard.

“So…um, do you Cainites really not eat food? Like even at all?” Li asked awkwardly, “‘Cause that really must suck if so.”

 _Quite the diplomat isn’t he? Sebastian thought sarcastically. Either he is a master at pretending to be a bumbling fool, or this is his true nature!_ “No, most Kindred cannot eat mortal food, we gain no sustenance from it. We mostly only eat food to help blend in with Kine.”

“Oh fuck, really, man? I mean, we don’t get any Chi from food either, but it’s the little things that really make you feel alive!” Li gushed, “Tasting all those wonderful flavours of spices, herbs and fat! I would hate to be without it!”

“Indeed, I do not know how I’ve lived nearly two hundred years without it,” Sebastian replied in a deadpan voice.

Of course, the fool didn’t notice his sarcasm and continued on. “Fuck yeah, I gotta congratulate you on bearing it. Honestly, being able to have food again almost makes going to and escaping from Yomi almost worth it!”

Before he could even bemoan the fact that he would have to listen to more of this drivel the door opened again. Any hopes of Ming Xiao already returning from her important business were soon crushed when a tall and handsome man with an intense gaze walked inside. Sebastian found himself unconsciously swallowing the longer he looked upon the man, his very presence so very awe-inspiring, he felt so keen for whatever word or command-

Sebastian shook his head trying to clear it, as he realised that whatever power this Kuei-jin was using was very much like the Kindred discipline Presence; he couldn’t allow himself to be sucked in. But try as he might, it was hard to keep his eyes away from him.

The man smirked and gave a slight bow, “Prince LaCroix, my humble apologies, but I’m here to relieve young Li here of his duties tonight. Though, do not worry, I have been informed of your injuries and will be taking over healing you.”

The way Li began to stumble over his words implied that Sebastian wasn’t the only one affected. “But act- ye-yeah, of course, I’ll leave the rest up to you, Master Jiang.” Sebastian felt himself seize up uncomfortably the second Li’s hand left his wound. As Li moved over towards the door he seemed to find his will again and he turned to Jiang, “But to be honest, I’m nearly finished with healing him and I was supposed to take him to Mistress Xiao’s personal chambers.” His hand on the doorknob was shaky as though he was hesitant to leave Sebastian all alone with Jiang.

Jiang smiled at Li kindly, “I know, Li, but it’ll be quicker for the Prince if I take over, and that’ll please Mistress Xiao more. Don’t worry, I’ll escort him to her personal chambers afterwards.” Li’s eyes glazed over as he nodded at Jiang’s reassurances before exiting the room, truly leaving Sebastian at the mercy of this terribly charismatic and powerful man.

Once again he was reminded of the gulf of power and experience between him, Ming Xiao and now Jiang. It terrified and intoxicated him to be beholden to such power. It had been such a long time since Sebastian had really felt such presence. Not since his sire and the Kindred of Europe and England had he known the sheer awe a masterful Kindred could inspire, all of which made his inability to resist such power frightening. He knew that he couldn’t break free even if he desired it. And that a part of him just didn’t want to, made it even worse.

“Let us see how well young Li was patching you up, Prince LaCroix,” Jiang mused as he came behind Sebastian, making the Ventrue hitch a breath as his strong, warm hands clasped his bare shoulders. He could feel Jiang’s gaze boring into his wound, which began to itch as he felt his flesh piece itself together again. It was faster than it had been when Li was healing him; once more the disparate levels of power and experience between the two Kuei-jin men all too apparent to Sebastian.

“There we are, your flesh is good as new.” The proudness in Jiang’s voice made Sebastian shiver despite himself.

“Thank you, Mr Jiang,” Sebastian breathed. The way Jiang’s fingertips and thumb pressed into his shoulders was exciting and unnerving at the same time. He wanted to be away from this man but also desired to know whether he would do more to him if he stayed. But it felt wrong to even think of such things about a stranger, who, as far he knew, wasn’t afraid to use his powers to control him. Ming Xiao had used her natural charm to seduce him, yes, but he hadn’t needed a mind-altering power to change his feelings for her to her advantage. It seemed odd to be arguing the ethics of natural versus supernatural manipulation in his mind, but it was all he could do to stop it becoming completely flooded with an overwhelming obsession towards Jiang…

“Oh Sebastian, please call me Tai, we are friends now, aren’t we?”

Ignoring the breach of etiquette at having his given name spoken so casually without his permission, or the sudden declaration of the fact he and Tai were supposedly friends now, Sebastian dreamily stared at Tai as he rounded to face him. With Tai’s warm hands cupping his cheeks and looking into his piercing eyes, he found himself feeling the strong urge to agree with the man, after all, unlike the other Kuei-jin under Ming Xiao’s command, he had been very courteous towards him, and, Sebastian suspected, unlike Li, he would be very intelligent company too… “Yes, I do believe we could be friends, though it’s most sudden,” Sebastian said softly, finding it so hard to see anything outside of Tai, as though his vision had completely tunnelled itself. Though truthfully, did anything matter besides Tai?

 _Yes, Ming Xiao matters, and despite your recent disagreements, Kamau matters especially!_ his mind screamed, shaking his tunnel vision a bit, at least enough to remind himself that Tai was clearly using his powers on him to control him. Yet even realising that, he was still hopelessly trapped, and that truly terrified him.

“Sebastian? Are you alright?” Tai asked with such concern that it made Sebastian forget about his predicament, “Is there something on your mind?”

The strange, powerful allure of Tai seemed to vanish so quickly that Sebastian began to wonder if he had imagined it, and yet he knew that he hadn’t. Yet the man standing in front of him was terribly likeable. Honestly, he would be giving Nines Rodriguez a run for his money with the grandness of his likability.

“It’s nothing really, but- ” They were friends weren’t they? Surely, he could say anything to his new friend. _No, no, no, you can’t, he-_ “Well, I have to admit you’ve got a charming air about you, Tai, that does almost make me suspect that you are using your powers over me!” he nervously chuckled, trying to force his eyes to look at his folded dress shirt and jacket, feeling the strong urge to cover up any vulnerability as much as possible.

Tai’s hands lowered from his cheeks, and his fingertips moved to under his chin. “Oh dear, Sebastian, I would never do such a dreadful thing to you! Best friends- ” he paused for a moment, his eyes in deep focus and his finger moving onto Sebastian’s lips. Sebastian used his heightened senses, hearing the clicking of heels coming towards them from afar. Ming Xiao was coming back. He felt a sense of relief from knowing that she hadn’t abandoned him to the mercy of- well, why would he be at the mercy of his new friend, Tai? _Yes, you are! You can’t-_ But all thoughts were drowned out by Tai leaning close to Sebastian and whispering, “Let’s not mention to Mistress Xiao that we are friends, Sebastian, she gets terribly jealous.”

 _No, no, no he’s-_ “Alright, but when will we speak again, I would rather enjoy getting to know you better.” _Yes, find out more about this man who has bewitched me-_

“Of course, Sebastian, how about tomorrow night?”

Sebastian shook his head again, trying to clear his mind but failing miserably, “I might have a long meeting with your Mistress, about- about the Sabbat and how best to deal with them. I cannot say when I’ll be free to spend more time with you. I want to, you understand- ”

Tai grinned, “Of course, Sebastian, I completely understand, the Sabbat are a terrible blight that need to be cut down! Don’t worry, we’ll find time later.” It was so wonderful to have such an understanding friend, they were so uncommon these nights, especially for Sebastian, it seemed.

*

All Ming Xiao was able to hear was the sound of her heart beating rapidly as she quickly walked down the hallway to the medical room, hoping desperately, despite knowing better, that she might not be too late. Too late to stop Tai from doing what she feared he was likely doing to Sebastian. He wouldn’t physically hurt Sebastian, not when there were much more effective ways to break a man. Ming Xiao inwardly cursed herself, she had had a feeling that whatever news the Mandarin had for her wasn’t as important as stressed, and that she was conveniently being forced into leaving him alone and vulnerable. And Yong being so young wouldn’t have been equipped to resist Tai’s abilities. Ming Xiao should have known better than leave Yong and Sebastian alone, yet she had ignored her instinct, and now Sebastian was possibly paying for her foolishness.

Not to say that the updates of the new test subject’s progress or the slightly worrying news of said test subject’s attempt to escape hadn’t been important, but it could’ve waited until she had Sebastian settled safely in her chambers. The moment she had finished reading the update email, she’d realised her stupid mistake.

Even though she knew it was hopeless to think otherwise, a small part of her hoped that she was mistaken, and that Sebastian and Yong were completely fine, and Tai hadn’t interfered at all.

That small piece of hope grew a little bigger upon entering the medical room to see Tai merely calmly standing behind Sebastian with his hands on his shoulders, of course that didn’t necessarily mean that he hadn’t gotten his claws into him in some way. After all, once a mortal or a weaker Kuei-jin or Kindred were soul-shackled, they could be instructed to behave in any which way their master wished.

Yet when Sebastian saw her come inside the room, his icy blue eyes brightened wonderfully, and his lips widened into a fanged smile and Ming Xiao couldn’t help but think that maybe she hadn’t been too late after all, or that Tai had simply chosen to heal him rather than do anything nefarious. But at the same time, she knew it was unwise to delude herself into thinking everything was fine, not until she had made sure. Even so, Ming Xiao couldn’t help smiling back at him, “Oh Sebastian, I see you have met my second-in-command, as well one of my top healers, Jiang Tai. I hope he has healed you well.”

Sebastian nodded as he pulled his dress shirt back on, “Yes, Mr Jiang has indeed healed me rather quickly, I have to say that I am incredibly impressed!”

“Oh, that is wonderful to hear, but where has Li gone off to?” Ming Xiao asked, despite guessing a few excuses that Tai would surely throw her way.

“Oh, Li had some important tasks that needed attending to he had forgotten about that I had to remind him of and offered to take over,” Tai said with a chuckle, as though laughing at an inside joke. Ming Xiao resisted the urge to grind her teeth, she didn’t like this at all. She liked it even less the moment Tai’s lips began to pout mockingly. “And besides, I have to admit that I’m surprised that you would allow a novice like Li to be in charge of healing such an important guest as the Prince of Los Angeles!”

“Well, I had thought you were too busy, and since nothing would go wrong if Li made a mistake when healing Prince LaCroix, I had thought it would be good practice- ”

“So, you had thought it proper to treat our honoured guest like a Guinea pig?” Tai replied with joking snideness, “Honestly, it would have been no trouble at all if you had come to me first, Mistress Xiao.”

“It was absolutely fine, I had the opportunity to observe the work of a novice and a master of the healing arts!” Sebastian quickly interjected diplomatically as he finished buttoning his shirt and stood up to grab his jacket before making his way over Ming Xiao. “It was the most enlightening experience I’ve ever had in my long existence, and I would love to discuss it further with the both of you, but I’m afraid it must be getting closer to dawn, and I do feel the dire need to- ”

“I do believe perhaps I should escort Sebastian to his room, we can continue this tomorrow night,” Ming Xiao interrupted as she subtly moved Sebastian toward the door. She could feel tension in her gut begin to grow as the Prince seemed for a moment to resist her.

“Of course, I do look forward to hearing your thoughts of how I and Li used our skill of the Blood Shintai discipline on that nasty wound of yours, I do think it would be most helpful for him to improve,” Tai stated graciously while waving at them as they left the room.

As they moved further and further away from Tai, Sebastian seemed to relax a little, though his hand clasped onto hers tightly, almost if he was afraid she would leave him behind again. Ming Xiao squeezed his hand back, wishing that she hadn’t left him alone in Tai’s company for even a second. _**Stupid, stupid, stupid girl! You let that filthy Devil Tiger snag his claws onto our worthless Cainite! Now he will use him against you! You cannot let this go unpunished! Flay him, boil him-**_ Ming Xiao pushed down her P’o again. As much as she wanted to, she could not indulge its whims. _**You have allowed that Devil Tiger to indulge his whims for centuries, all because of your weakness! You should have sent him to Yomi to suffer endless disease and burrowing mag-**_ No matter how tempting it was, she would never let herself lose herself to the P’o!

She didn’t realise how much she was shaking until Sebastian’s arms pulled her into an embrace. “Ming, are you alright? Why are you shaking?” he asked, his voice sounding terribly concerned.

A horrible fact dawned on Ming Xiao. She had never been so completely assaulted by her P’o’s unreasonable demands before mentally suffering at the hands of Grout with his Dementation powers, and that situation would never even have occurred if she hadn’t agreed to the alliance with Sebastian in the first place…

Or then again, had she been losing control over herself for longer than she realised, and all of this was her tipping point? Perhaps, perhaps, these long years in Los Angeles with next to no progress had slowly begun to destroy her. And yet if Sebastian had been the cause of her recent weakness, then his very presence had become a balm for her as well. Even her P’o had seemed to become in its own twisted way attached to him. Insulting as it was, its venomous title of ‘Worthless Cainite’ for Sebastian now seemed more like a pet name for him.

But Ming Xiao couldn’t let Sebastian know about this, at least not out in the hallway. Truthfully, if she was smart, she wouldn’t even be thinking of the possibility of explaining the P’o to him. But she had already allowed him to see her at her weakest and most wrathful, what harm would it be to show him more?

“Ma cherie?” Sebastian asked again, this time in a whisper, his hand cupping her cheek, “What is wrong?”

She leant into his hand and closed her eyes for a moment. This night had been terribly long, it was bad enough that they had had to deal with annoying hunters without now possibly Tai’s interference too. Maybe she should have let him go back to his tower and heal up on his own rather than stupidly allow Tai to influence him. “I would rather talk about it in my chambers, I’m ever so tired.” More emotionally drained than tired, Ming Xiao doubted sleep would help ease her mind.

Sebastian nodded in agreement. Even though his face held great discomfort and weariness, he followed her to her personal bed chambers.

Upon arriving inside, Ming Xiao could see the effect the rising dawn had on him, his movements became sluggish as he stripped off his clothes and climbed into her bed. It seemed she wouldn’t be able to ask him about what Tai had done to him tonight, and truthfully, she didn’t think she’d be able to handle it right now regardless. If it turned out to be the worst case scenario she feared then she knew that would cause her to indulge the P’o’s wishes.

Tomorrow then, she’d deal with this tomorrow.

Ming Xiao took off her dress and boots, then washed off what was left of her make-up before joining Sebastian on the bed. The second she climbed on, he pulled her close to him and peppered her with kisses. Ming Xiao smiled and whispered in his ear, “I don’t believe that you have time to convince me tonight…”

“I know but I wanted to give you a taste for the next evening,” he replied sleepily as he lightly pressed another kiss onto her lips.

Ming Xiao laughed and kissed him back.


End file.
